The
INSIDE
Fall back into reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 3
Football team gets honors
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 5 George Willis photo
New rescue vessel?
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VOLUME 35, NUMBER 47 • November 20, 2012
Marijuana initiative passes, what next? By Julie Summers
Special to the Islands’ Weekly
Sponsored by the Lopez Island Family Resource Center
On Election Day, Washington voters lived up to their progressive reputation by passing Initiative 502 to legalize recreational use of marijuana. The initiative passed with 55 percent statewide approval and an overwhelming 68 percent support in San Juan County, the largest margin in the state.
A similar measure passed in Colorado, making Washington and Colorado the first two states to allow recreational marijuana. “Everybody’s talking about this now,” said San Juan County Prosecuting Attorney Randall Gaylord. “Everybody’s interested to see how it will unfold.” Local officials’ reactions vary widely. In a letter to the
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editor (Oct. 23 Weekly edition), Gaylord encouraged voters to carefully consider I-502 and stated that he would adapt his policies based on the results. One complication is that I-502 is slated to go into effect in 30 days, but the law is now in direct conflict with federal law, which bans marijuana. Gaylord said there is a lot of speculation on how this will play out. Under the federal Controlled Substances Act,
marijuana remains classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, alongside heroin and ecstasy. Schedule I drugs “have a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the U.S., and there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision,” according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Although there are medical marijuana laws in 18 states and D.C. (the most recent just passed in Massachusetts) and there have been several attempts to reclassify marijuana, the federal government has yet to do so. In 2009, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that federal prosecutors would essentially defer to state laws regarding medical marijuana, but it remains unclear whether that precedent will hold with recreational use. Gaylord points out that the conflict between state and federal laws could be complicated by the fact that Washington is a border state with increased federal law enforcement presence. Officers of the Coast Guard, U.S. Customs, and other federal agencies, he says, follow federal law, and users in line with the Washington law may still be prosecuted under See marijuana, page 6
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