FORMER SEATTLE US ATTORNEY PUSHES POT LEGALIZATION

SEATTLE -- A man who once served as the Justice Department's top
official in Seattle said Tuesday that he is sponsoring an initiative
to legalize possession of up to an ounce of dried marijuana in
Washington state, a measure he hopes will help "shame Congress" into
ending pot prohibition.

John McKay spent five years enforcing federal drug laws as the U.S.
attorney in Seattle before he was fired by the Bush administration in
early 2007. He said Tuesday that laws criminalizing marijuana are
wrongheaded because they create an enormous black market exploited by
international cartels and crime rings.

"That's what drives my concern: The black market fuels the cartels,
and that's what allows them to buy the guns they use to kill people,"
McKay said. "A lot of Americans smoke pot and they're willing to pay
for it. I think prohibition is a dumb policy, and there are a lot of
line federal prosecutors who share the view that the policy is suspect."

McKay is joining Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, travel guide Rick
Steves and the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union in
forming a group called New Approach Washington. They're pushing an
initiative to the Legislature that would regulate the recreational use
of marijuana in a way similar to how the state regulates alcohol.
Their bill would legalize marijuana for people over 21, authorize the
Liquor Control Board to regulate and tax marijuana for sale in
"standalone stores," and extend drunken driving laws to marijuana,
with blood tests to determine how much of pot's active ingredient is
present in a driver's blood.

New Approach Washington planned a news conference today to announce
the effort. No state has yet legalized marijuana for recreational
purposes in such a way, though some have decriminalized it, and the
initiative would put Washington squarely at odds with federal law
banning the drug.

The legislation would set limits on how much cannabis people can have:
an ounce of dried bud, 16 ounces of marijuana-infused foods in solid
form, and 72 ounces of marijuana-infused liquids, or all three, said
Alison Holcomb, drug policy director of the ACLU of Washington. The
limits are necessary to help ensure that people don't buy large
amounts for resale in other states, she said.

The bill would not allow for the recreational growing of marijuana; it
would be up to the state's Liquor Control Board to license grow
operations and set limits for how large they can be. The measure would
not affect the rights of medical marijuana patients in Washington, who
are allowed to have at least 24 ounces and 15 plants, and more if needed.

Activists would have until the end of this year to gather more than
240,000 signatures to get the initiative before the Legislature.
Lawmakers will have a chance to approve it or allow it to go to the
ballot.

Taxing marijuana sales would bring the state $215 million a year,
conservatively estimated, Holmes said.

Another group, Sensible Washington, is already pushing a legalization
initiative this year that would remove all state criminal and civil
penalties for marijuana use, possession and cultivation in any amount.
Their effort is an initiative directly to the voters, meaning that if
it qualifies for the November ballot and passes, it would become law
without any input from the Legislature.

Sensible Washington failed to gather enough signatures to make the
ballot last year, and Seattle medical marijuana attorney Douglas
Hiatt, who leads the effort, said Tuesday he did not know whether
their measure would qualify this year.