NICK LICATA GOES GANGSTA

How AL Capone Inspired the City's New Medical-Marijuana
Proposal.

Iconic gangster Al Capone ran illegal rackets for years before the
federal government finally managed to send him to prison. And in the
end, the charge wasn't murder, arms dealing, or racketeering. It was
tax evasion.

Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata says Capone's conviction
suggests a loophole that could let the city of Seattle tax and
regulate medical-marijuana dispensaries, even though they are illegal
in the federal government's eyes.

Licata is sponsoring an ordinance that attempts to take the shreds of
the medical-marijuana-reform bill that was mostly vetoed by Gov. Chris
Gregoire and turn it into something it was made to do: legalize
medical-marijuana dispensaries. This despite the fact that the federal
government is cracking down on cannabis dispensaries in eastern
Washington and elsewhere in the country.

"Al Capone was sent to prison because he didn't pay his taxes," says
Licata. "The government never said 'What you are doing is legal.' They
just said 'You're not paying taxes.' What we're doing is similar.
We're just trying to avoid a proliferation of marijuana shops
everywhere."

The proposed ordinance shies away from labeling medical marijuana as
"legal." In fact, it goes to great pains to say that a permit from the
city doesn't mean approval from the city.

Instead, as in Capone's prosecution, the law focuses on taxes, and
essentially says that the city won't ask questions about whether one's
businesses may or may not include dispensing medical marijuana under
existing state law, as long as one applies for a business license and
pays their percentage.

Not everyone, however, is convinced that the city's gangster approach
will work. Marijuana-rights attorney Doug Hiatt tells Seattle Weekly
that with or without stating explicitly whether medical-marijuana
dispensaries are legal, the city of Seattle "simply can't regulate an
illegal substance."

"They are claiming the authority from SB 5073 gives them the ability
to regulate medical marijuana," says Hiatt. "That's not the case. Nick
Licata's ordinance is well-intentioned, but the city simply doesn't
have the authority."

Licata obviously disagrees. "First of all, this ordinance would not
stop feds from enforcing federal law," he says. "We don't know what
will happen. I and other councilmembers feel that this is the least we
can do."