CHANGING FEDERAL LAW IS FIRST STEP IN LEGAL MARIJUANA EFFORT

There is a move afoot to pass an initiative to legalize marijuana in
Washington state.

Gov. Chris Gregoire is going down a different path. She has
petitioned the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify
marijuana as a Schedule 2 drug, which would allow doctors to
prescribe medicinal marijuana and pharmacists to fill the
prescription without fear of arrest by federal authorities.

Gregoire's is the more legally sound approach because a legalization
initiative would put Washington law in conflict with federal drug laws.

Public views on the legalization issue are strong on both sides.
Hoping to capitalize on a shift in public attitudes in favor of
legalization of small amounts of marijuana, supporters have drafted
Initiative 502 -- an initiative to the Legislature. The measure
decriminalizes and taxes recreational use of marijuana with a system
of state-licensed growers, processors and stores with a 25 percent
excise tax imposed at each stage.

Under the initiative, adults 21 and older could buy up to an ounce of
dried marijuana, one pound of a marijuana-infused product sold in
solid form such as brownies, or 72 ounces of marijuana-infused
liquids. It would be unlawful to operate a motor vehicle with more
than 5 nanograms of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, per
milliliter of blood.

Supporters say the state could -- conservatively -- generate $215
million a year in tax revenue under the legalization measure.

Initiative backers have until Dec. 30 to collect 241,153 signatures
to put the matter squarely before lawmakers for the 2012 Legislative
session in January. Legislators would have three options: pass the
legalization initiative into law, pass an alternative version and
send both to the ballot, or ignore the initiative in which case it
would advance to the November 2012 ballot.

The legalization push gained considerable traction recently when two
former Seattle U.S. attorneys and the former head of the local FBI
office climbed aboard the bandwagon.

But Initiative 502 faces serious legal pitfalls. Not only could
federal agents raid and shut down the state-licensed pot growers and
retail stores, they could ask a judge to simply throw out the entire
decriminalization system on the grounds that it is in direct conflict
with federal law.

Whether states like Washington and Colorado can get away with
enacting legalized distribution systems -- whether they can regulate
a substance that is illegal under federal law -- is unclear.

That's why Gregoire has aimed her effort at the federal level. Change
the federal classification of marijuana, the governor says, and the
state would have clear authority to license and distribute marijuana
to medical patients -- as authorized by voters through Initiative 692
in 1998. The measure passed with a 59 percent favorable vote.

The governor was joined in her request by Gov. Lincoln Chafee, an
independent from Rhode Island.

"Poll after poll shows an overwhelming majority of Americans now see
medical marijuana as legitimate," Gregoire said. "Sixty percent of
voters in our state said yes on a 1998 ballot measure. An
ever-growing number of doctors now tell thousands of suffering
patients they may find relief from the unique medicinal qualities of
cannabis. There is simply no question that pharmacists could safely
and reliably dispense cannabis to patients -- just as they do for
other controlled and more problematic drugs."

The federal Drug Enforcement Agency classifies marijuana as a
Schedule 1 drug. According to the DEA, drugs listed in Schedule 1
have no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United
States and, therefore, may not be prescribed, administered, or
dispensed for medical use.

Gregoire and Chafee urged the DEA to list marijuana as a Schedule 2-V
drug -- a drug that has accepted medical use and may be prescribed,
administered, or dispensed for medical use, with controls.

Without the change in federal classification and with state law at
odds with the federal law, Gregoire said medicinal marijuana patients
find themselves caught in the middle.

"People weak and sick with cancer, multiple sclerosis, and other
diseases and conditions suddenly feel like -- or in fact become --
law breakers," she said. "In the year 2011, why can't medical
cannabis be prescribed by a physician and filled at the drug store
just like any other medication? The answer is surprisingly simple. It
can. But only if the federal government stops classifying marijuana
as unsuitable for medical treatment."

Getting the feds to reclassify marijuana would clear the path for
medicinal use and bring more certainty than the gamble that the feds
will turn a blind eye to a decriminalization law passed by the
Legislature or voters.