Global Ganja Report

Well, the dust has hardly settled but the boots are at the door; they might come storming through, riling up that dust some more.

But we hope not. The boots belong to the Justice Department and the door belongs to the states of Washington and Colorado. The dust is the election that saw those two states make the biggest moves toward cannabis legalization any state has made in a long long time. No, neither law is perfect, and it is going to be a cold day in hell probably before state stores are up and running. But still, the fact that the voters got out there and said enough is enough and let's get something on legalization out there is very freaking refreshing. Ask anyone who works in any capacity to end the drug war: Wins are few and far between. It took more than 10 years of effort to rein in law enforcement's forfeiture spree; it took a lot longer than that to get New York's racist Rockefeller sentencing laws even semi-tossed. So what happened in Washington and Colorado is in the win column, though we cannot be at all sure that the feds are not going to come in and try to muck things up like they have with California's and Oregon’s medical marijuana laws.

We have noted before that the cannabis industry has a huge carbon footprint—something of a dirty little secret for the legalization movement. This is an especially relevant fact in Colorado, where Amendment 64 specifies that all legal weed must be grown indoors. Roberta Ragni in the Italian eco-journal GreenMe, asks "Marijuana Legalization: What Will It Mean for the Environment?" After quoting triumphant pot activists, Ragni lays on the inconvenient truth:

Prosecutors in Washington's King and Pierce counties are dismissing more than 220 misdemeanor marijuana cases in response to last week's vote to legalize small quantities of cannabis. In King County, 175 cases have been dismissed involving possession of one ounce or less. I-502 makes one ounce legal on Dec. 6, but King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg decided to apply I-502 retroactively.  "Although the effective date of I-502 is not until December 6, there is no point in continuing to seek criminal penalties for conduct that will be legal next month," Satterberg said in a statement.

Cannabis is set to become legal in Colorado and Washington after voters passed historic ballot initiatives on Nov. 6. In Washington voters approved Initiative 502, allowing possession and distribution of cannabis through a state licensing system of growers, processors and stores, where adults will be able to buy up to an ounce of dried cannabis; up to a pound of a cannabis-infused product, such as brownies; or up to 72 ounces of cannabis-infused liquids.. The Colorado initiative actually introduces Amendment 64 to the state constitution, allowing adults over 21 to possess up to an ounce and to privately grow up to six plants—although public use will be banned. In Oregon, the similar Cannabis Tax Act Initiative or Measure 80, failed by approximately 55-to-45% of the vote.

On April 2, a bipartisan group of legislators from five medical marijuana states—California, Colorado, Maine, New Mexico, and Washington—issued an open letter to President Barack Obama opposing the federal crackdown and calling upon his administration to "respect our state laws." The lawmakers underscored that such an aggressive policy "makes no sense" and is "not a good use of our resources," recalling Obama's original pledge to de-emphasize enforcement in states with medical marijuana laws.

Washington's I-502—an initiative approved for the ballot in December—is creating a storm of dissension within the state's cannabis community. The measure would legalize possession of up to one ounce of cannabis by adults 21 and over, but limit sales to state-licensed stores overseen by the liquor control board. It contains no provision permitting home grow. It also contains a Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis (DUIC) provision that would make anyone guilty if they test at above 5 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) of active THC in blood. Critics call this an unscientific and arbitrary level.

Governors Christine Gregoire (D-WA) and Lincoln Chafee (I-RI) announced at a press conference in Olympia Nov. 30 that they are jointly filing a federal petition to reclassify cannabis for medical use. Under the Controlled Substances Act, the federal government considers cannabis a Schedule I substance, a dangerous drug with no medical value. The rescheduling petition filed by governors Gregoire and Chafee comes after their administrations were sent letters threatening medical marijuana producers and distributors and the implementation of state laws.

Municipalities in Washington state are maintaining bans on medicinal cannabis gardens and dispensaries, as efforts to clarify state law on this question are stalled in Olympia. A state law enacted July 22 allows for up to 10 people to grow up to 45 plants in collective gardens. But several cities—notably excluding Seattle—declared temporary bans on collective gardens, citing the need to study the impacts. Washougal's city council voted Sept. 9 to extend the six-month ban passed in July for a full year. On Sept. 14, the Sammamish city council also voted to extend its ban.