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Newsbrief:
Seattle
Marijuana
Enforcement
Initiative
Signatures
Submitted
8/2/02
Members of the Sensible Seattle
Coalition have filed some 19,600 signatures with King County election officials
for an initiative that would direct Seattle police to make marijuana possession
arrests their lowest priority. The proposed measure calls for no
changes in the law, only in police practices.
The petition drive needed
17,200 valid signatures. The King County Elections Office is now
screening the signatures to ensure that they are from registered voters.
If the Elections Office finds there are sufficient valid signatures, the
initiative would then have to win approval from the City Council before
appearing on the November ballot.
According to the Seattle
Times, there is support for the initiative on the council. At least
two council members are in favor of the proposal, the Times reported.
If enacted into law, Initiative
75, as the measure is known, may have effects more symbolic than practical
if recent arrest figures are any guide. According to the Seattle
City Attorney's Office, fewer than one percent of its misdemeanor criminal
cases (150 out of 17,000) were for marijuana possession. A similar
measure passed by the Oakland, CA, City Council in 1996 had "virtually
no effect on law enforcement," Oakland police told the Times.
Still, Seattle City Council
member Nick Licata told the Times the measure would reinforce the idea
that marijuana possession should be a low priority. "I think it's
better to have our limited funds for public safety being directed toward
car prowlers and home burglaries, rather than arresting adults for marijuana."
(Visit http://www.hemp.net
to learn more about what's going on in Washington state activism and to
read about Robert Lunday, an activists' activist who died too young.)
-- END --
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Issue #248, 8/2/02
Editorial: Getting from Here to There | Despite Supreme Court Ruling, No Wave of High School Drug Testing Foreseen | US Prison Population Leveling Off, Feds Drive Small Increase | Needle Exchange 2002:00:00 A Long Way Traveled, A Long Way to Go | Baltimore Killings Continue as Politicians Continue to Ignore Role of Prohibition | Stossel Special Spurs War of Letters to ABC | Newsbrief: Cooking Speed Equals Child Abuse Under New Tennessee Law | Massachusetts Governor Vetoes Decriminalization Provisions | Newsbrief: Afghan Crop Report Says Opium Eradication a Joke | Newsbrief: Leading British Comedian Says Legalize It All | Newsbrief: Alabama Rape Victim Ordered to Provide Urine Sample for Drug Test | Newsbrief: Tennessee School Board Ordered to Back Off on Zero Tolerance -- Right to Public Education at Issue | Newsbrief: Seattle Marijuana Enforcement Initiative Signatures Submitted | Web Scan: CriminalDefense.com, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Harry Levine, Ethan Nadelmann, Medical Marijuana Research, School Daily | Legislative Alerts: Rave Bill, Medical Marijuana, Higher Education Act Drug Provision | The Reformer's Calendar
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