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Hundreds of Marijuana Cases Were Dismissed in Washington This Week

Two county prosecutors in Washington State have dismissed 220 pending marijuana possession cases, in response to the passage of I-502, according to the Seattle Times.

"Although the effective date of I-502 is not until December 6, there is no point in continuing to seek criminal penalties for conduct that will be legal next month," [King County Prosecutor Dan] Satterberg said in a statement.
 

Satterberg dismissed 175 possession cases involving persons age 21 or over possession one ounce or less. In neighboring Pierce County, Mark Lindquist said he was dismissing about four dozen marijuana cases, but was continuing to prosecute them if they were secondary to more serious offenses such as DUI.

"The people have spoken through this initiative," said Lindquist. "And as a practical matter, I don't think you could sell a simple marijuana case to a jury after this initiative passed."
 

As I noted Wednesday, Tuesday really happened.

These 220 people are lucky. Drug convictions including marijuana can trigger a range of collateral consequences, including loss of college aid, difficulty qualifying for public housing and other penalties, in Washington including the ability to trigger a firearm. According to marijuana-arrests.com:

Employers, landlords, credit agencies, licensing boards for nurses and beauticians, schools, and banks now routinely search these databases for background checks on applicants. A simple arrest for marijuana possession can show up on criminal databases as "a drug arrest" without specifying the substance, the charge, or even if the person was convicted. Employers and landlords, faced with an abundance of applicants, often eliminate those with criminal arrest records, especially for drugs. Nurses, security guards, and others licensed by the state can lose their licenses and their jobs from just one misdemeanor marijuana arrest.
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Still waiting for Colorado cops to stand down...

Denver cops are known for their contempt of voters wishes regarding marijuana.

They blew off the "lowest priority" initiative a few years ago, basically said "Make me."

So, here we are.  What will they do?  Will they stand down?  When?

If they have, I missed it...

colorado

thankfully it's the prosecutor who files charges,  the Denver cops can do what they want but they can be prepared to get yelled at by a judge for bringing this crap into his/her court and wasting valuable time and money.

MJ

gov'nr can call out the military r national guard

Roll on justice

This better late than never recognition of human dignity  will not remain confined to the states that enacted it.

This will roll around the world.Bravo Washington and Colorado.

How sensible.

How sensible.

I would be curious to know

I would be curious to know how many cases remain pending in Satterberg's county involving minors under the age of 21. It would be interesting to measure the dichotomy of arrests between adults and underaged minors.

I was practicing for law..

I was practicing for law.. Guess I better look at another profession.

My Opinion

Let me start off by saying that I used to (from the Nancy Reagan era) be against legalizing marijuana and I never have and never will smoke it myself. However, I have come to realize over the years what a waste of time and taxpayer dollars it is to arrest and prosecute users and possessors of a substance that is less harmful than alcohol and many prescription medicines. We don't even need to make it legal. All we need is for states' Attorneys General to make it a policy in their states to not prosecute misdemeanor possession, and that would free up tax money for more important things.

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