I'm not sure why Initiative 197 (medical-recreational-industrial) didn't make the ballot in 1997 but it should have. I was hoping it would. We never did get enough signatures.Washington State could have solved a lot of problems in our society with that one law alone. Washington State needs a sensible and reasonable marijuana policy. I-197 could have put people to work in a growing industry that millions of Americans are already in, growing and selling marijuana, - TAX FREE that is. The initiative was barely mentioned in the press and when it was, it was kind of joked about as just the "annual legalization movement".
The press - and the legislature ignored it, thinking about more important things, such as giving tax dollars to sports stadiums. The people weren't ignoring it though. It was gathering steam and trucking right along there for a while and people were signing it left and right. Most people I spoke with were all for it, and when I was gathering signatures at events all kinds of people, and families were showing support with their pens. At the Fremont Fair I even had a couple of Police and Ambulance drivers ask to sign! One of the ambulance drivers told me that he was signing because he had never taken anyone to the hospital for over-doing it on marijuana but he had to very day with alcohol users. (We were standing right next to the festival beer garden.) If this initiative would have made the ballot, I think it would have passed.
I truly believe that the majority of American voters want this type of Marijuana law, a regulatory law like the one we have for the alcohol industry. One we can all live with and still have freedom. The people of Washington State should be able to use marijuana legally just as they are allowed to use alcohol, as medicine, for recreation, and in industry. I-197 addressed the top three uses for the marijuana plant more correctly known as cannabis or hemp, there are many other reasons for legalization, but just like in the case of alcohol prohibition, these 3 reasons are enough.
The Alcohol industry is a thriving part of part of Washington state's social culture, and industrial economy. (And the world's) It pays billions in taxes, employs millions of workers in growing the worlds best hops in Yakima, producing all that beer for seahawks games, selling beer at festivals like the Fremont fair or your local pub. Then there is home brew crowd that spurred the huge "microbrew" industry, not to mention growing grapes for wine and let's not foget the guys who get paid to design those scotch ads in Forbes magazine. There is no way we could ever afford to prohibit the drug alcohol -once called "DEMON RUM"- again.
It's a well known fact that alcohol can be a very dangerous substance if used incorrectly, I myself know this first hand as an ex-drinker. But I also know it's also a very important part of our health care industry. Drug Czar Barry Macaffery likes to say that Marijuana isn't medicinal. I wonder if he would say that about alcohol as well? Alcohol is allowed to be used in over the counter medicines all the time. Even children can go in to a grocery store and purchase all sorts of medications that contain this highly addictive and dangerous substance.
In fact, they can even buy Nyquil, which is 50 percent alcohol mixed with acetaminophen, two substances that the FDA has warned about using together. In fact acetaminophen causes an estimated 7000 deaths a year. Marijuana as a medicine never killed anyone and it's never caused liver failure or kidney damage or bleeding stomachs like many over the counter pills have. How come we don't hear The Drug Czar on that issue? Could it perhaps be the millions of dollars that the pharmecutical, tobacco and alcohol industry contributes to the WAR ON DRUGS? Or is it that the ex-general knows that there are uses for alcohol that overshadow it's abuse potential? But then again We are always hearing some new study that says drinking a glass or two is great for the hearts of certain people. It reminds me of something Ben Franklin once said,
"there are more old drunks than old doctors."
But along signature trail
the initiative was dealt some really bad blows. The Washington
State Supreme (NOT!) Court 7-1 reversed itself and ruled against
Tacoma Attorney and Cancer Patient RALPH
SEELY in his case for medicinal
marijuana use. Alot of us were stunned, and the damn newspapers
had a field day with it. The Times ran a headline "STATE
RULES OUT MEDICINAL MARIJUANA" just a few weeks before the
vote - except for in the selected areas of Washington state such
as the city of Seattle and in Island County, doesn't mean that
the majority of adults in this area are against the use medicinal
Marijuana.
In Washington State we have some of the best Marijuana in the
world!
LET'S LEGALIZE IT!
"We have so much
homegrown ( marijuana) that goes undetected of the same or better
quality, it's kind of befuddling to us why (Thai weed) would be
coming into Seattle"
DEA spokesperson JULIANNA WEST