Washington Marijuana Legalization and Regulation, Initiative 502 (2012)

Initiative 502
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Type:	State statute
Referred by:	New Approach Washington
Topic:	Marijuana
Status:	On the ballot

The Washington Marijuana Legalization and Regulation, Initiative 502, will appear on the November 2012 statewide ballot in Washington as an Initiative to the Legislature.

The proposed measure would legalize the production, possession, delivery and distribution of marijuana. The initiative would regulate the sale of small amounts of marijuana to people 21 and older. According to reports, marijuana grow farms and food processors would be licensed by the Washington State Liquor Control Board.

Additionally, the measure would make it illegal for a motorist to have more than 5 nanograms of THC (an active ingredient of marijuana) per milliliter of blood in their system.

The initiative is supported by a group called New Approach Washington. It is sponsored by John McKay, former U.S. Attorney, according to the filed petition. Additional sponsors include: Kim Marie Thorburn MD, Peter Holmes, Rick Steves, Robert Wood MD, Roger Roffman and Salvador Mungia.

On January 27, 2012 the Washington Secretary of State's office verified that supporters had collected sufficient signatures to qualify the measure for the statewide ballot. Since the measure is an Initiative to the Legislature, it was first sent to the Washington State Legislature for consideration. The legislature took no action, leaving the measure to be sent directly to the statewide ballot for a vote.

Support

Supporters

I-502 supporters submit petitions for Washington's 2012 ballot.
Photo credit: Washington Secretary of State's office

• The main group in support of Initiative 502 is New Approach Washington.
• According to New Approach Washington, sixteen state lawmakers have stated support for the measure. These state legislators include:

State Representatives

• Luis Moscoso
• Bob Hasegawa
• Mary Helen Roberts
• Chris Reykdal
• Cindy Ryu
• Joe Fitzgibbon
• Mary Lou Dickerson
• Jamie Pedersen
• Hans Dunshee
• Roger Goodman

State Senators

• Margarita Prentice
• Maralyn Chase
• Sharon Nelson
• Jeanne Kohl-Welles
• Adam Kline

Arguments

• Former U.S. Attorney John McKay said,"The enormous demand for marijuana in the face of criminal penalties, which has been in existence for 70 years, is spinning off enormous profits for drug cartels, for gangs, for drug dealers. We are strategically, way, way out of position in law enforcement by allowing the American marijuana demand and market to fund those much more serious activities."

• In an op-ed published in The Seattle Times in November 2011 Katrina Pflaumer, a former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington; Robert Alsdorf, a lawyer and retired state Superior Court judge; and Anne Levinson, a former Municipal Court judge and former deputy mayor of Seattle all announced their endorsement of Initiative 502. "Decriminalizing marijuana would allow our state and local governments to refocus limited police and court resources on more important priorities than arresting, jailing and trying adult marijuana users. It would redirect hundreds of millions of dollars that are currently flowing to criminal organizations each year to legitimate businesses. It would restore respect for our laws and law enforcement. And it would decrease the disproportionate criminalization of people of color who have historically been harmed most by the existing laws," said the editorial.

• Charles Mandigo, former Special Agent in Charge of the Seattle FBI office, said, "I do not support or condone the use of marijuana. Rather, I think it is time for us to try a regulatory approach that frees criminal justice resources for more appropriate priorities and strikes a better cost-benefit balance than the strategy we’ve been pursuing for the past forty years."

• Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson stated: “We should regulate and tax [marijuana] like alcohol and tobacco instead of propping up black market profiteers. We have better uses for our police, courts, and jails.”

Campaign contributions

According to reports, as of December 2011, the campaign has raised an estimated $1.1 million with contributions from Peter Lewis, ex-CEO of Progressive Insurance ($250,000), philanthropist Harriett Bullitt ($100,000), philanthropist Floyd Jones ($50,000) and co-director of Seattle International Foundation Bill Clapp ($25,000).

Opposition

Arguments

• Some opponents take issue with the fact that the initiative, if approved, would make it illegal for a motorist to have more than 5 nanograms of THC (an active ingredient of marijuana) per milliliter of blood in their system. Opponents argue that THC levels vary depending on the body's tolerance, which may put medical marijuana patients at greater risk of arrest.

• Other opponents argue that even if approved, the law would be pre-empted by federal law. Instead, some argue that the state should eliminate all state penalties related to marijuana.

• Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna stated about the initiative: “I oppose it and think it’s going to fail at the ballot...Once we open the door to all kinds of marijuana, with use by all kinds of people, medical marijuana users will be swept up."

Polls

See also: Polls, 2012 ballot measures

• An Elway Research poll released in July 2011 found that 54 percent of surveyed voters support I-502, while 43 were opposed and 3 percent were undecided. A total of 408 registered voters were surveyed.
• An Elway Research poll released on January 4, 2012 found the proposed measure supported by 48 percent, while 45 percent were opposed and 7 percent were undecided. The poll surveyed 411 likely voters and had a margin of error of +/- 5 percentage points.

Legend      Position is ahead and at or over 50%     Position is ahead or tied, but under 50%

Date of Poll	Pollster	In favor	Opposed	Undecided	Number polled
July 2011	The Elway Research	54%	43%	3%	408
January 2012	The Elway Research	48%	45%	7%	411

Path to the ballot

See also: Initiatives to the Legislature (Washington)

Washington State Elections Division employee counts petition sheets submitted by I-502 sponsors
Photo credit: Washington Secretary of State's office

Initiatives to the Legislature, if certified, are submitted to the Washington State Legislature at its next regular session in January. Once submitted, the Legislature must take one of the following three actions:

• The Legislature can adopt the initiative as proposed, in which case it becomes law without a vote of the people;
• The Legislature can reject or refuse to act on the proposed initiative, in which case the initiative must be placed on the ballot at the next state general election; or
• The Legislature can approve an alternative to the proposed initiative, in which case both the original proposal and the Legislature's alternative must be placed on the ballot at the next state general election.

A minimum of 241,153 valid signatures were required to submit the proposal to the state legislature for consideration. The Washington Elections Division recommended at least 320,000 signatures in order to account for duplicate or invalid signatures.

According to the Washington Secretary of State's office, supporters said they planned to submit petitions on December 29, 2011 at 10 a.m. Alison Holcomb, the initiative's campaign director, reported that an estimated 340,000 signatures were collected as of December 20, 2011 and expected more by December 29.

On December 29, 2011 an estimated 354,608 petition signatures were submitted with the Washington Secretary of State's office. However, supporters plan to submit an additional 10,000 signatures by December 30th. The signature verification process was scheduled to begin January 9, 2012 and was expected to take a few days.

On January 27, 2012 the Washington Secretary of State's office concluded, using the random sample method, that sponsors had nearly 278,000 valid signatures. Rejected petitions were thrown out either because names were not found in the registered voter database, a signature was missing or did not match the one on file, or the petition was a duplicate. The error rate was 21.73 percent. According to state officials, the average error rate is 18 percent.

The Initiative to the Legislature first went to the Washington State Legislature for consideration. Since no action was taken on the measure, it now heads to the statewide ballot for a public vote.

See also

Suggest a link

• 2012 ballot measures
• Washington 2012 ballot measures
• Washington signature requirements
• Laws governing the initiative process in Washington

Articles

• Washington marijuana initiative certified, heads to legislature first
• Washington marijuana supporters submit thousands of petition signatures

External links

• Proposed initiatives to the legislature filed in 2011
• Initiatives 502

Additional reading

• The Daily Weekly,"Dueling Pot Proposals Advance in Olympia: SB 6265 Has Public Hearing, I-502 Signatures Under Review," January 19, 2012
• Opposing Views,"Legalizing Marijuana in Washington State Takes Big Step Forward," January 2, 2012
• King 5 News,"Could Washington legalize pot in the new year?," December 29, 2011
• The Seattle Post-Intelligencer,"Wash. effort to legalize pot faces legal pitfalls," November 20, 2011