Inslee encouraged by marijuana talk with Attorney General Holder

Gov. Jay Inslee said his conversation with Attorney General Eric Holder was “very satisfying” and a “confidence-builder” about the state’s ability to move forward implementing legal marijuana.

By Bob Young

Seattle Times staff reporter

Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington

Gov. Jay Inslee said his conversation Tuesday with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder convinced him Washington state should continue making rules for a legal marijuana industry as mandated by voter-approved Initiative 502.
Inslee and state Attorney General Bob Ferguson met with Holder because of the conflict between federal law, which bans all marijuana, and the state’s law, which makes possession of an ounce of pot legal for those 21 and older.
Inslee said the 45-minute conversation was “very satisfying” and a “confidence-builder” about the state’s ability to move forward implementing legal marijuana. “We went in thinking we should continue with rule-making and nothing I heard should dissuade us,” Inslee said.
At the same time, he stressed that Holder said nothing about the federal government’s intentions and whether it would crack down on Washington state or look the other way.
Inslee said he did not press Holder for a clearer signal, or position, because he considered their talk a preliminary meeting, with more discussions to follow.
Noting that the state is moving ahead with rule-making, Ferguson said he emphasized that the state would like answers soon. “We made it very clear that while we’re moving forward, some deadlines are coming up soon. I think Attorney General Holder understood that we’d need guidance in months to come,” Ferguson said.
Inslee said several times the state would provide Holder with details about how it would prevent its legal marijuana from leaking into other states.
“We spent some time talking about how the initiative would work, how the regulatory process would work. He listened with great interest, and I appreciated that,” Inslee said.
The law will be implemented by the state’s Liquor Control Board, which on Tuesday held the first of six meetings planned to take public comment about the law. The second meeting will be at 7 p.m. Thursday at Seattle City Hall.
The governor added that Holder’s questions show he is “going to be fully attentive” to Washington’s evolving law. Inslee said it’s no surprise that Holder would take his time to fully evaluate the implementation of I-502.
In case the federal government decides to oppose the law, Ferguson has a team of lawyers in his office preparing to make the best legal case for upholding I-502.
“I said we want to avoid a legal fight,” Ferguson recounted during a news conference after the meeting with Holder. “We want to find a pathway forward. But if it comes to it, the Washington Attorney General’s Office will be prepared for a legal fight.”

Eric Holder, Attorney General

President Obama has said recreational pot smoking in Colorado and Washington, the two states that have legalized it, is not a major concern for his administration.
“We’ve got bigger fish to fry,” Obama said in an interview with ABC News last month. “It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it’s legal.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, D.C., circuit ruled Tuesday that medical marijuana should not be reclassified from its status as a federal Schedule I dangerous drug with no medical value.
In a 2-1 decision, the appeals court agreed with the government’s contention that adequate and well-controlled studies on marijuana’s medical qualities do not exist.
Advocates disagree and vowed to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com

Inslee encouraged by marijuana talk with Attorney General Holder

Now that pot's legal in state, will D.C. delegation defend law?

Washington's new marijuana law takes effect Thursday, amid a muted reaction from the state's congressional delegation and questions about whether the federal government will seek to block it.

By Kyung M. Song

Seattle Times Washington bureau

WASHINGTON — Washington state's new marijuana-legalization law, which takes effect Thursday, is a direct affront to federal drug policy. So does Dave Reichert — the King County sheriff-turned-congressman — think users still should be subject to arrest by federal agents?
He isn't saying. Neither is Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Spokane, the highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress.
And Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both of whom personally opposed making recreational pot legal, haven't exactly been at the forefront of trying to resolve the legal limbo.
The Washington congressional delegation's muted reaction likely will do little to help clarify the state's unprecedented conflict with the federal ban on marijuana. It also leaves unclear whether voters — who approved legalization 56 to 44 percent — can expect their elected representatives to vigorously stand up for the state law.
On Wednesday, the U.S. attorney for Seattle, Jenny Durkan, said in a statement that the Department of Justice (DOJ) still was reviewing legalization measures approved last month by voters in Washington and Colorado: "The Department's responsibility to enforce the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged. Neither States nor the Executive branch can nullify a statute passed by Congress."
But, as some legal experts expected, the DOJ has not acted.
Other legal experts, as well as marijuana advocates, expect the federal government will quietly let the state laws go forward. As Richard Epstein, a professor at New York University School of Law, put it, the Drug Enforcement Agency is "going to play its version of 'don't ask, don't tell.' "
Colorado's law, which mirrors Washington's new tolerance for personal possession of marijuana, is expected to take effect within 30 days.
Unlike Washington's delegation, Colorado lawmakers have taken more decisive action to defend their state's law. Three House members from Colorado have backed a bill to prevent the federal Controlled Substances Act from pre-empting state laws. Of the 10 co-sponsors of the bill, which was introduced by Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., none is from Washington.
U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Tacoma, has been the delegation's most prominent voice on the right of the state to implement the law. He was one of 18 House Democrats, and the only member from Washington, to sign a post-election letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking the DOJ to refrain from making arrests.
"I don't want to leave my constituents in a limbo not knowing whether a given activity is legal or not," said Smith, a former prosecutor for the city of Seattle, who said he voted for the law.
Smith has not signed onto DeGette's bill but said he supports it in principle.
Smith noted the DOJ has taken a largely hands-off attitude toward medical marijuana, paving the way for its legalization in 18 states and the District of Columbia. But federal authorities still sporadically assert their power, Smith said.
Since January 2010, federal agents have raided more than 200 medical-marijuana dispensaries, labs and cultivation sites in eight states, including Washington, according to Kris Hermes, spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, an advocacy group for medical marijuana.
Washington's new law has left Democrats and Republicans in the state delegation personally at odds with voters' will.
McMorris Rodgers opposes legalizing marijuana. Reichert's office has repeatedly refused to say whether he thinks the new state law should trump the federal ban. Reichert, whose mother took cannabis in a pill form before she died of cancer in 2011, softened his stance on medical marijuana but not to the point of supporting legalization.
Meanwhile, activists in Seattle plan a public celebration at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Seattle Center fountain, despite the new law's ban on public consumption of marijuana. Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes said he hoped there would not be "unfortunate flaunting" of public marijuana use, which is subject to a fine of about $50.
"I think (Seattle police) will see how well people comply," said Holmes. If they issue tickets, "we will enforce the law."
Staff reporter Jonathan Martin contributed to this report. Kyung Song: 202-383-6108 or ksong@seattletimes.com

Now that pot's legal in state, will D.C. delegation defend law?