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US: Seattle smokes up - legally First state to allow personal marijuana use stands to fill coffers Nick Allen Vancouver Sun Friday 07 Dec 2012 The move sets up a potential showdown with the U.S. federal government. "This is a big day because all our lives we've been living under the iron curtain of prohibition. The whole world sees that prohibition just took a body blow," said Vivian McPeak, the director of Seattle's annual Hempfest. The new law allows cannabis to be smoked only inside, and doing so in public is still subject to a $100 fine. However, the Seattle Police Department told its 1,300 officers that, until further notice, they should not issue tickets. No officers were present at the Space Needle event. "The department's going to give you a generous grace period to help you adjust to this brave, new, and maybe kinda stoned world," said city police spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on the force's website. "The police department believes that, under state law, you may responsibly get baked, order some pizzas and enjoy a Lord of the Rings marathon in the privacy of your own home, if you want to." Washington and Colorado became the first two states to decriminalize and regulate the possession of cannabis in ballots held alongside the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 6. The Colorado law takes effect on Jan. 5. In Washington, it is now legal for adults over the age of 21 to possess an ounce of the drug, or up to 16 ounces of cannabis-infused goods such as brownies, or up to 72 ounces in liquid form. Growers and processors of cannabis will be regulated and the drug will be sold in licensed shops. It will be subject to a 25-per-cent tax at each stage of that process. The move is expected to bring hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue for spending in areas including schools and health care. The establishment of the regulation and tax system will take another year. However, with cannabis still illegal under U.S. law, through the Controlled Substances Act, Washington could face a crackdown by federal agents from the FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency. The drug remains banned from federal property in the state, including military bases and national parks. Washington's stance follows an already escalating conflict between the federal government and states over the burgeoning medical cannabis industry. The U.S. Attorney's Office has previously launched crackdowns in states, including California, where dispensaries selling cannabis for medical use have proliferated. It has taken legal action to close many it believes were operating illegally. The U.S. Justice Department has yet to announce whether it will sue in the courts to try to block regulation and taxation of the cannabis industry in Washington and Colorado, which would set up a legal showdown over states' rights. At the Space Needle, the mostly middle-aged group of cannabis smokers listened to reggae music from loudspeakers. They included Mike Momany, 61, who said he intended to form a Washington State Cannabis Tourism Association. Another smoker, calling himself Professor Gizmo, 50, said: "Victory for hemp. If our forefathers could see us now." The Seattle city attorney Pete Holmes said: "All we've achieved by prohibition is to fill our jails and make drug dealers quite rich. We're in uncharted water." Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Seattle+smokes+legally/7665802/story.html#ixzz2EPKwsJU8
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