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Gregoire Asks Justice Department About Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on November 14, 2012 at 09:41:10 PT
By Bruce Ramsey
Source: Seattle Times 
Seattle -- Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has met with James Cole, deputy U.S. attorney general, to discuss the decriminalization of marijuana under Initiative 502. The initiative was passed by voters Nov. 6, and is to be certified Dec. 6 and go into effect Dec. 9. On its face the decriminalization here and in Colorado conflicts with federal law, specifically the posting of marijuana under Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act. Gregoire, a former state attorney general, has been a cautious supporter of marijuana liberalization. She was for medical marijuana, but she vetoed much of the medical marijuana bill of 2011, sponsored by Sen Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, out of worry that federal agents would arrest state employees. In 2011 she petitioned the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify cannabis as a Schedule II drug, which would allow doctors to prescribe it as medicine and pharmacists to sell it.
She didn’t support 502 but the voters did, and she has a duty to go to bat for them. And she has. Her spokesman, Cory Curtis, said she told Cole the state of Washington is going ahead with Initiative 502, first working with Washington State Patrol on enforcement of the driving under the influence law, for which 502 set a new standard. That is the smaller effort; the big one is the work by the Washington State Liquor Control Board to decide how to license and regulate cannabis growers, processors and retailers. This is to be done by December 2013 and is estimated to cost the state $17 million. Her question was the attitude of the Justice Department toward all this. “There was nothing definitive from them,” Curtis said. He said Gregoire told Cole she hoped the federal government would come up with some decision on state marijuana legalization sooner rather than later, before the state of Washington spent the full year, and the $17 million. One of the things the federal government could do is act on her petition to reschedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. But to satisfy Initiative 502, the rescheduling would have to be much more thorough than merely to post it under Schedule II, which includes such drugs as cocaine, opium, methadone, oxycodone, morphine and dexedrine. Under Initiative 502, which turns cannabis into an over-the-counter commercial product available to anyone over 21, marijuana should probably be delisted entirely. Source: Seattle Times (WA)Author: Bruce RamseyPublished: November 14, 2012Copyright: 2012 The Seattle Times CompanyContact: opinion seatimes.comWebsite: http://www.seattletimes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/bRjlwW89CannabisNews  -- Cannabis  Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 
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Comment #4 posted by schmeff on November 14, 2012 at 11:14:53 PT
It's Too Confusing; Eliminate the List.
"Marijuana should probably be delisted entirely." For simplicity and to regain our stolen freedoms, the "List" should be delisted entirely.To argue that federal law trumps state law, in this particular case, is classic misdirection-a red herring. Federal law is predicated on, and therefore trumped by, the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution grants no power to the federal government to 'control' substances.The Constitution is a document that defines the LIMITS of government, written by men who had experienced tyranny and wished to forestall tyranny in America.I imagine our forefathers would recoil in horror at the Controlled Substances List. "Pray tell," they would ask, "are WE not substances? Composed of substances and nourished by substances? Do we not assemble, cultivate and gather substances to make our living and improve our society? How could a government with the power to control substances be limited by anything? It's madness."Once upon a time in our history, we the people legally amended the Constitution to allow governmental authority to control a single substance: alcohol. When the experiment ended badly, we the people, again, legally, amended the Constitution and revoked that authority. We didn't ask Washington. We told Washington.Gov. Gregoire shouldn't be meeting in D.C. to ask "Mother may I?" She is speaking for We the People. She should tell Washington that We know what they've stolen, and We're taking it back. 
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Comment #3 posted by ripit on November 14, 2012 at 10:41:49 PT
anyone with half 
a brain in their head could see that there isn't a single reason it shouldn't be treated at least as equal to tobacco and alcohol.my god how in this day and age can they stay so blind to the truth? just how much power they must have to keep us suppressed this long?still makes me so sad to see all the hoops i have to jump thru just so i can relieve myself from the pain i'm in.
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on November 14, 2012 at 10:41:41 PT
Boulder Colorado news
Boulder DA dismissing small-scale marijuana possession cases in light of Amendment 64 http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21994403/boulder-da-dismissing-marijuana-possession-cases-light-amendment
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Comment #1 posted by HempWorld on November 14, 2012 at 10:19:54 PT
Marijuana should be delisted entirely...
Yes, it should. Marijuana is statistically safer than water!
Legalize it!
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