Support The Wire

Medical Pot: The Public’s Law That (Evidently) Can’t Be Fixed.Are There Two Sides To This Story?

Article by WashingtonStateWire. Published on Sunday, May 01, 2011 EST.

The Guv And Pot: Let’s Unroll This Fatboy

I was actually monitoring this issue for a friend who claims back pain relief from his prescription and use is essential to all aspects of life. I was also intrigued by the state’s rights side of it. The latter actually being more realistic and fundamental to the politics.

I was wondering how long it would take the inner-lawyer of the Guv to burst forward and justify her caving-in to federal threats of harassment and arrest. She had a chance to defend a law, a will of the people of her state. She had a platform to more loudly tell the feds to get out our bedrooms, our houses, and our personal lives, but she didn’t. She had one more good, rational chance to take the national stage and talk, maturely about the broader issue of this crop, its use, our state and federal failed enforcement policies, the revenue opportunities for states; but oh no. She caved.

She had a chance to review, carefully, as if the glass were half-full instead of half-empty, the numerous and well prepared legal defenses that were provided to her by everyone from the ACLU to learned college instructors, but oh no. (BTW, this is the same audience she follows on all sorts of other issues)

There was chance for Washington to have a working, Pot-as-medication dispensing system, but it’s gone for now.

Our medical pot law is full of holes, and a magnet for conflict and confusion. We should either repeal it, or make it work.


Your support matters.

Public service journalism is important today as ever. If you get something from our coverage, please consider making a donation to support our work. Thanks for reading our stuff.