FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY MCKAY BACKS EFFORT TO LEGALIZE POT IN WASHINGTON

A coalition that includes former U.S. Attorney John McKay, Seattle
City Attorney Pete Holmes and travel guide Rick Steves is launching an
initiative that would legalize marijuana in Washington state.

The group, led by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington,
decided to push the initiative this spring after Gov. Chris Gregoire
vetoed most of a medical-marijuana bill that had passed the state
Legislature.

"We did some more public-opinion research, looked at the numbers and
said, 'Yeah, this is the time,' " said Alison Holcomb, campaign
manager for the initiative and drug-policy director of the ACLU of
Washington.

The initiative would regulate the recreational use of marijuana in a
way similar to how the state regulates alcohol.

It would legalize marijuana for people older than 21, authorize the
state Liquor Control Board to regulate and tax marijuana for sale in
"stand-alone stores" and extend drunken-driving laws to marijuana,
with blood tests to determine how much of the substance's active
ingredient is present in a driver's blood.

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

McKay, who 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, said he hopes the initiative will help "shame Congress"
into ending pot prohibition.

He said 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."

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

The coalition pushing the initiative is called New Approach
Washington. It also includes Dr. Robert W. Wood, former director of
the HIV/AIDS Program of Public Health - Seattle and King County, and
state Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, D-Seattle, who this year sponsored an
unsuccessful bill to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana. Both McKay
and Holmes supported Dickerson's bill.

While Dickerson's effort failed, separate legislation to license and
regulate medical-marijuana dispensaries and grow operations, and give
patients broader arrest protection, was approved.

Gregoire, however, vetoed parts of the bill in late April, saying it
would put state workers at risk of prosecution under federal law,
which bans marijuana.

Although the veto wasn't the only factor behind the initiative, that's
when members of the coalition began talking more about a measure that
would go beyond medical marijuana, the ACLU's Holcomb said.

"The public opinion is there to support full legalization," she said.
"If you're going to put the effort into doing an initiative, it
doesn't make sense to limit yourself to medical marijuana."

New Approach Washington planned a news conference Wednesday to
announce the effort.

No state has legalized marijuana for recreational purposes in such a
way, although some have decriminalized it. The initiative would put
Washington squarely at odds with federal law.

It 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, Holcomb said.
Limits are necessary to help ensure that people don't buy large
amounts for resale in other states, she said.

Holmes called the measure the "first comprehensive legalization,
regulation and taxation initiative. It addresses every concern that
has been voiced in the debate over the last several decades."

California voters last year rejected Proposition 19, which would have
allowed for personal possession and growing of limited amounts of
marijuana, 54 percent to 46 percent.

Steves, a longtime critic of the nation's marijuana laws, said he
supports the Washington state initiative because "I just care about
our community, and I think the war on marijuana is hurting people. ..
I think it's flat out good citizenship to address a problem that needs
to be tackled in a more thoughtful way."

McKay said he long has considered marijuana prohibition a failed
policy, but that his job as U.S. attorney was to enforce federal law,
and he had no problem doing so.

But now, he said, "I can say the law is stupid."

McKay added that he does not use marijuana and that his position is
based on a belief that marijuana prohibition has failed.

"When you look at alcohol prohibition, it took the states to say,
'This policy is wrong,' " he said. "This bill might not be perfect,
but it's a good step forward. I think it will eventually shame
Congress into action."

Another group, Sensible Washington, already is pushing a legalization
initiative 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 input from the Legislature.