Find us on facebook
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 | 75 cents
What’s Inside News................................Page 2-5 Views...................................Page 6 Sports.................................Page 13 Obituaries.........................Page 32 Classified.....................Page 27-31
www.courierherald.com
Drugs, driving bring plenty of questions
Carbonado style
Daniel Nash Staff Writer
WEBSITE | Check the website for breaking news and weather updates. www.courierherald.com
Look inside... Keeping the weight off is key to battling diabetes | Page 9
Special Section Inside Pgs. 15-24
Discover Winter
Weather Today, Wednesday should bring continuing rain and clouds with high temperatures in the upper 40s, falling into the low-40s overnight. Expect a wet Thanksgiving with rain likely to continue through the weekend.
Contact Us! Main Desk 360-825-2555
News ..................................ext. 3 Retail Ads .........................ext. 2 Circulation .......................ext. 1 Classifieds................... ext.7050
Scott Hubbard, superintendent/principal to 175 students at Carbonado, promised luau attire if the local kids delivered at least 1,500 items for the school’s food drive. They met the challenge and, all day Thursday, Hubbard strolled the halls and playground in a grass skirt and flowered top. Photo by Kevin Hanson
See DRIVING, Page 2
City plans year-long birthday bash By Brian Beckley Staff Writer
It’s not everyday you turn 100 and the city of Enumclaw is getting ready to celebrate. January 27 marks the official centennial of the city’s incorporation and Mayor Liz Reynolds is planning a party in its honor.
TurkeyWinnerToe
The first provisions of Initiative 502, the measure legalizing marijuana for recreational use at the state level, will go into place Dec. 6, pending election certification later this month. On that date, up to one ounce of useable marijuana will be decriminalized and the Driving Under the Influence of Drugs mandate will go into place. Marijuana-friendly critics of the law, like Anthony Martinelli of the legalization group Sensible Washington, have expressed concern that the per se TetraHydroCannabinol limit—5 nanograms per milliliter of whole blood—will result in unintoxicated citizens being arrested and convicted for driving under the influence. “Rhetoric and politics aside, the new driving under the influence of drugs policy for THC, which is per se (meaning your blood level, not actual impairment, is the determining factor of guilt), will ensnare innocent individuals, especially patients, and especially those under 21, for whom it’s a zero-tolerance policy,” Martinelli wrote in a Nov. 6 editorial on Sensible Washington’s blog. But local justice personnel in Bonney Lake and Enumclaw say
DUID procedure will be mostly business-as-usual, pending unforeseen future case law. “It’s not going to be that much different,” Enumclaw City Prosecutor Mike Reynolds said. “Alcohol and/ or drugs that can cause intoxication are both already covered under state law. You can have a DUI for prescription medication. A DUI for marijuana isn’t new. The only complication was in the THC blood level.” Just how long THC—the psychoactive component in marijuana plants responsible for the “high”— stays in the system has been a source of concern for the law’s pro-marijuana critics. “Active THC lingers in the body for days, and we have no home test for individuals to determine if they’re below 5 (nanograms per milliliter of whole blood) before they drive,” Martinelli wrote in his editorial. But New Approach Washington, the organization that crafted Initiative 502, argues that the idea that a driver could be intoxicated days after smoking is based on a chemical misunderstanding. It is true that common drug tests, like those administered by an employer or court monitoring, can
“I’m so excited about this,” she said. “It’s a year of stories.” Reynolds said she noticed the date on the city’s official incorporation document, which hangs in the city administrator’s office in City Hall, and gathered a group together to find a way to commemorate the historic event. “The whole premise was to acknowledge the
rich history and then a blessing for the future,” she said. A small group of civic leaders and officials met to talk about what could be done, eventually settling on the theme of commemorating the past, celebrating the present and creating
See CENTENNIAL, Page 3
CONGRATULATIONS! Each of these 5 people have Won a Smoked Turkey! Jan Sutter • Laura Good • Renee VandeVoort • Sylvia McDougall • Darrell Woods Courtesy of Olson’s Meats & Smokehouse and The Courier-Herald • Pick- up your gift certificate at The Courier-Herald office by Dec. 5, 2012