Tagged: Medical Marijuana

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington state lawmakers said Thursday that an initiative to legalize and regulate the recreational use of marijuana will be decided by voters.

If passed, Initiative 502 would make Washington the first state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana and would place it at odds with federal law, which bans marijuana use of all kinds.

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — More than three dozen Washington state lawmakers are asking the federal government to reclassify marijuana.

In a letter to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Monday, the lawmakers said they supported Gov. Chris Gregoire's previous request on the issue. Reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule II drug would allow it to be prescribed by doctors and handled by pharmacists.

Some Washington lawmakers are trying to pass a new medical marijuana law that would legalize nonprofit dispensaries.

Supporters hope it will clear up the uncertainty that followed Gov. Chris Gregoire's partial veto last year of a medical marijuana law.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Medical marijuana patients who oppose an initiative to legalize marijuana have filed a counter initiative.

The opponents of Initiative 502 filed the "Safe Cannabis Act" with the secretary of state's office Friday morning.

Olympia, Wash. — Gov. Chris Gregoire and Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee have filed a petition with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration asking the agency to reclassify marijuana so that doctors can prescribe it and pharmacists can fill the prescription.

A group in Idaho has hit the streets to gather enough signatures to put a medical marijuana initiative before voters in 2012. Idaho remains the only Northwest state and one of a handful in the West that hasn't legalized pot as medicine.

The group Compassionate Idaho needs to gather 48,000 ballot signatures by the end of next April. They're proposing a measure that would allow patients suffering from a debilitating medical condition to get a medical marijuana card with a physician's approval.

A campaign to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Washington state is getting a big cash boost with two months left to collect signatures.

Campaign director Alison Holcomb says her group New Approach Washington received a check for $100,000 Tuesday from philanthropist Harriet Bullitt.

Tacoma ballot Initiative 1 directs police to give the lowest priority to enforcing minor marijuana laws.  If the Initiative passes, arrests would be unlikely in Tacoma for  possession of 40 grams or less of marijuana.

Sherry Bockwinkel, who has run a lot of statewide initiative campaigns, is volunteering her time to run the  Tacoma marijuana initiative campaign.  She believes Tacoma police have better things to do than bust people for pot.