POT POTATO

A Bill to Decriminalize Pot Is Popular with Voters-So Why Won't the
Legislature Pass It?

Stoners get caricatured as layabouts who talk in circles, shrug off
their responsibilities, and leave hard work to other people. But when
it comes to reforming pot laws in Washington, it's not stoners
embodying this stereotype.

As this year's legislative session begins, one of the bills still
kicking around from last year's session-after it stalled in the state
house without a hearing-is a measure that would decriminalize
marijuana. The bill would replace the existing penalty for possessing
pot (up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine) with just a $100
citation, like a parking ticket. A fiscal report by the state's Office
of Financial Management shows the measure would save $11,283,360 a
year in prosecution and jail costs. And relaxing pot penalties is
plenty popular with voters. Polling data conducted in 2006 shows that
67 percent of state voters want marijuana possession to be
decriminalized or legalized completely; national polls show a steady
climb in support for removing all penalties for marijuana.

At first blush, pot reform in Washington appears to be making headway
this year. The bill got a hearing in the house on the third day of the
legislative session. But a closer examination shows the bill is likely
to flounder. Despite plenty of reasons to approve the measure-again,
it would save money and has strong statewide support from
constituents-there's plenty of endless buck-passing in Olympia. When
pressed, lawmakers end up talking in circles about it and pointing
fingers at each other, at the public, at Washington, D.C.-all while
waiting for someone else to do the hard work for them.

Like, say, a bunch of disaffected stoners.

Thankfully, a small minority of lawmakers are showing some spine.
"It's not an issue about wanting to get stoned," says state
representative Dave Upthegrove (D-33), prime sponsor of the house
bill. "It's about drug policy that makes more sense and is more
effective." But he says fellow Democrats are nervous about approving a
controversial law that could trigger a conservative backlash.

If you ask state senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-36), the prime sponsor
of the bill in the senate (and another of the few with spine), the
bill has a chance of clearing the senate but is facing a more
difficult challenge in the house. Over there, house Speaker Frank
Chopp (D-43) points to his assembly of lawmakers and to the chair of
the committee in which the decriminalization bill is getting its
start. "I don't control all the votes," Chopp says. (Quite a claim,
considering Chopp is notorious for running his chamber with an iron
fist.)

The chair of the committee in question, Representative Christopher
Hurst (D-31), says he can't support the bill because it conflicts with
federal law. A former narcotics detective for the Black Diamond Police
Department, Hurst holds absolute authority to prevent the marijuana
bill from ever leaving his Public Safety Committee. He claims that
decriminalizing marijuana would confuse people who may sail into
federally patrolled waters or drive into national parks; they could be
prosecuted unwittingly for marijuana possession, he argues. But over a
dozen states have decriminalized marijuana, including Nevada in 2001
and Massachusetts in 2008, and "no state has ever reported
experiencing such a problem," says Alison Holcomb, drug policy
director of the ACLU of Washington.

But then Hurst-who talks in circles when told the federal conflict has
no play in low--level pot prosecutions-also points his finger at
Congress. "It is up to federal government to make that decision,"
Hurst says. "It doesn't rest with the states."

Next, Hurst claims, unbelievably, "Police don't book people for small
amounts of marijuana. This idea that people are out there being booked
into jail for small amounts of marijuana is preposterous." What's more
preposterous-especially from a former cop-is that his statement is at
odds with the state's Administrative Office of the Courts, which found
that 12,463 cases were filed for misdemeanor possession in 2008, and
5,280 cases resulted in conviction. On average, defendants served 4.3
days per conviction, for a total number of 22,704 jail days. Even more
frustrating, this information is in the fiscal note (prepared by the
state) that accompanies the bill sitting on Hurst's desk.

Regardless, Hurst says, "I don't see the votes there in the house or
the senate" to pass the bill.

While Hurst is trying to pass this hot potato off onto others, certain
legislators want to pass it directly to voters in Washington State.

Representative Roger Goodman (D-45) recommends that, instead of hoping
for the legislature to pass it, citizens should take the initiative by
running a ballot measure. "Most [lawmakers] perceive that there is not
a lot to be gained politically by taking this on," Goodman says. But
Holcomb at the ACLU of Washington, which has been pressing hard on the
legislature to pass marijuana decriminalization for years, points out
that last year the senate voted the bill out of committee and none of
the senators faced a backlash. She calls that "a strong signal to our
Washington legislators that their constituents are ready to pass this
bill."

Moreover, running a citizens' initiative typically requires 10 months
of work and costs over $2 million-whereas the legislature can do it in
a few weeks without spending an additional dime.

Still, some want to try going for broke with an initiative. On January
11, a new group called Sensible Washington filed an initiative that
would legalize marijuana outright.

"There are just not enough people in the house and senate willing to
step up and vote for it," says Philip Dawdy, coauthor of the
initiative and a freelance journalist. With plans to get the measure
on the ballot for under $100,000, the ambitious pot measure has more
than an uphill battle. Passing it would be like climbing Mount Everest
while fighting the Huns. But the steep fight of an initiative may be
the only way Washington will ever change pot laws-even taking a
moderate step like decriminalizing possession of small amounts, never
mind legalizing pot completely.

"Sometimes you have to do things by initiative because the legislature
doesn't want to do it," said Speaker Chopp, speaking about
controversial proposals. Is the legislature shirking its
responsibility by asking the public to pick up the tab for an
expensive initiative? "I'm not advocating that we do initiatives. I'm
just saying sometimes that's the way to get things done," he said.

Naturally, some lawmakers and citizens are fed up.

State representative Mary Lou Dickerson (D-36) has filed a bill that
would completely legalize marijuana and regulate its sale like liquor.
But-familiar story-Dickerson's bill doesn't have a chance because
others in Olympia think it's too hot to touch.