FEDERAL MARIJUANA LAWS TRUMP STATE INITIATIVES, OFFICIALS SAY

With most crops, farmers take risks with unpredictable weather and
fickle markets. If they grow marijuana, they take risks with the law
even if their state has decriminalized it.

In Washington state, pro-marijuana activists are promoting two ballot
initiatives. One calls for removing all state penalties regarding
marijuana. The other calls for legalizing possession of up to an ounce
of pot to be sold and taxed at state-licensed stores.

The group Sensible Washington is gathering signatures for the first
one, Initiative 1149, to be included on this November's ballot.

Cydney Moore, Seattle's coordinator for the group, said, "We're hoping
it will give farmers the opportunity to grow alternate crops,
something more sustainable."

Marijuana is already "one of our No. 1 cash crops," she said.
Legalization of it would also allow the growing of hemp, which has a
wide range of uses as a commercial crop, she said. Hemp refers to a
cannibis plant with low levels of the psychoactive substance
tetrahydrocannabinol.

The second initiative, which has no numerical designation yet, is
sponsored by a group called New Approach Washington. Campaign director
Alison Holcomb said the group envisions farmers receiving licenses
from the state Liquor Control Board, which would develop and enforce
standards.

Growing marijuana at home would be prohibited except under the state's
existing provisions for medical marijuana.

New Approach Washington intends to bring the initiative before the
state Legislature in its next session. Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson,
D-Seattle, one of the initiative sponsors, has previously introduced
legislation upon which the initiative is based. Holcomb said she
doesn't expect much beyond having the measure read in committee. If
enough signatures are gathered, the initiative will appear on the
ballot in 2012.

Undercutting any state efforts to legalize marijuana is the fact that
it is still illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, said if such a bill came before a
committee he's sitting on, "It would be very hard to look favorably on
it. Really it doesn't mean much. It would be a mistake to do anything
without changes in the other Washington."

In a June 29 memorandum from Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole
gave guidance to all U.S. attorneys:

"... Within the past 12 months, several jurisdictions have considered
or enacted legislation to authorize multiple large-scale, privately
operated industrial marijuana cultivation centers," he wrote. "Persons
who are in the business of cultivating, selling or distributing
marijuana, and those who knowingly facilitate such activities, are in
violation of the Controlled Substances Act, regardless of state law."

Initiative organizer Holcomb acknowledged that a state initiative
won't change federal law, "so growers would still be at risk. ... We
expect there to be a dialogue with the feds, that if state voters want
to try a different approach, the feds won't spend federal resources to
pursue and prosecute those complying with state laws."

She said more than 99 percent of marijuana cases are prosecuted by
state and local law enforcement.

One grower willing to take a chance is Nicholas Pouch, who runs a
small farm on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. As a registered medical
marijuana patient, he already grows for his own needs and would
consider growing more commercially.

"I would love to do something like that," he said. "I'm a farmer. It's
part of our agriculture."

John Stuhlmiller, director of government relations at the Washington
State Farm Bureau, said his organization has taken no official
position on the initiative, but "I can't imagine our membership ever
approving of this."

He worries about the activities that surround the marijuana
trade.

"Cartels and gang activities already regulate an illegal market,"
Stuhlmiller said. "How do you thread the needle of legal growers from
illegal drug traffic? Putting producers at risk would be terrible."

Schoesler, the only full-time farmer in the Washington State Senate,
said, "That's a very large risk they'd be taking."

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, penalties vary
according to the amount of marijuana found growing, measured by
weight. Fines range from $250,000 to $4 million for an individual's
first offense. Incarceration can range from five years to life in prison.