Washington Legislature Says No To Pot, Yes To 'Continued Chaos'

By Steve Elliott in Toke of the Town

Graphic: The Seattle Times

The Legislature in Washington state displayed a trait Wednesday for which they are becoming well known: spinelessness, especially when it comes to marijuana law reform.

Despite the fact that a majority of state voters favor legalizing pot, cowardly politicians in the State House voted down a pair of bills aimed at changing Washington's failed marijuana laws.

House Bill 2401 would have legalized and regulated the adult production, use and distribution of marijuana, in a manner similar to the regulation of alcohol.

The roll call vote on HB 2401, to legalize marijuana, went like this:


Hurst (D) Chair - N
O'Brien (D) Vice Chair - N
Pearson (R) - N
Klippert (R) - N
Appleton (D) - Y
Goodman (D) - Y
Kirby (D) - N
Ross (R) - N

House Bill 1177 was a more limited piece of legislation. It would have reclassified minor marijuana possession cases (less than 40 grams) from a criminal misdemeanor to a fine-only civil infraction. This policy, known as decriminalization, is already the law in more than a dozen states.

The roll call vote on HB 1177, to decriminalize marijuana:

Hurst (D) Chair - N
O'Brien (D) Vice Chair - Y
Pearson (R) - N
Klippert (R) - N
Appleton (D) - Y
Goodman (D) - Y
Kirby (D) - N
Ross (R) - N

The legislative defeats for HB 2401 and HB 1177 came despite nearly two hours of public testimony, nearly all of which was in support of one or both bills.

One light shining brightly in the darkness was Democrat Rep. Roger Goodman, who showed the kind of leadership that seems all too rare in the Washington Legislature these days.

"A 'no' vote... is a vote for prohibition and the illegal markets that it spawns," Goodman said. "A 'yes' vote is a vote for control... A 'no' vote is a vote for continued chaos."​

Photo: NORML

NORML's Paul Armentano: "They say that the will of politicians often lags behind the sentiment of the public. Nowhere is this adage more clear than when it comes to marijuana law reform."

Courtesy of Paul Armentano, deputy director at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), here are some of the lame excuses legislators gave for voting "no" to marijuana reforms.

Democrat Chris Hurst, committee chair, claimed that as a state lawmaker he is sworn to uphold both state and federal law. Ex-cop Hurst claimed that both proposals would be in violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act. (As pointed out by Armentano, neighboring Oregon was the first state to decriminalize marijuana, in 1973, and has never run afoul of federal law. Additionally, the governments of New Mexico, Rhode Island, Maine and now New Jersey have licensed, or will soon license, the production and distribution of medical marijuana without incident.)

"As a law enforcement officer... on countless occasions I've seen the negative effects of marijuana on people's lives," Republican Brad Klippert said. I would imagine he has, as a law enforcement officer busting people for pot. That's a negative effect of the marijuana laws, though, Brad, not of marijuana itself. (And as Armentano points out, Klippert's "logic" could also be used to outlaw alcohol, tobacco, and fatty foods.)

Republican Kirk Pearson claimed that just by talking about the bills, they were encouraging teens to try marijuana (who knew the Legislature had such influence?). "I don't want to do anything today that would make drug use seem safer to teenagers," Pearson said. (Oh, like telling the truth about marijuana? That wouldn't do, now would it? Additionally, as Armentano points out, by Pearson's own logic he should just shut the hell up.)

Democrat Steve Kirby claimed he really, truly does support the reforms, in theory, but then, weirdly and inexplicably, claimed that such changes in policy "require a vote of the public," not action by the Legislature. (As Armentano reasonably points out, marijuana prohibition was not enacted by a vote of the public.)

Ultimately, though, that public vote on marijuana may take place this November in Washington. NORML Legal Committee member, activist/lawyer Douglas Hiatt of Seattle has filed a voter initiative to legalize cannabis in the state.

If Sensible Washington's petition signature drive is successful, Washingtonians will get a chance to vote on legalization on the November 2010 ballot. A recent statewide poll shows that if the election were held today, pot would be legalized, with 56 percent of the vote.