Decriminalize Posession of Marijuana in Washington

To:  Washington State Legislators

Dear Representatives and Senators,

I am a law abiding voter who resides in Washington State.

I would like you to support legislation, such as Senate Bill 5615 and House Bill 1177, which decriminalizes the possession of Marijuana.

Possession of less than 40 grams should be a civil infraction, and a $100 dollar fine is a reasonable punishment. It is simply time for a paradigm shift in regards to the legality of Marijuana, for such reasons as:

The severe "war on drugs" tactics are misapplied to relatively harmless drug Marijuana. They should be reserved for such hard drugs as crack, heroin, ecstasy, and meth.

Drug interdiction funds and resources should likewise be focused on those hard drugs, rather than a naturally growing plant that has little negative impact upon society.

The Washington Institute for Public Policy estimates that it costs our state $7.5 million per year to arrest, prosecute and jail those arrested for minor Marijuana offenses. That is too costly in light of our $6 billion dollar budget shortfall.

The money generated from the civil infractions will fund the Criminal Justice Treatment Account. That will make it possible to provide genuine help to those with drug problems through treatment, drug court, and harm reduction programs – all of which offer more effective help for those with drug problems than jail sentences.

It has been over six years since Seattle made enforcement of Marijuana possession its "lowest priority." There have been no negative consequences from that act; in fact Mayor Nickels recently declared that "crime in Seattle is at an all time low."

The bottom line is that it's time to start treating personal use of Marijuana as a health issue, rather than a criminal justice issue. It's also time to cut wasteful spending of funds on arresting and incarcerating citizens for simple possession of Marijuana.

I encourage you to examine this decriminalization issue and support of HB 1177 and SB 5615.

I thank you for your consideration as a current and future constituent.

Sincerely,

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Decriminalize Posession of Marijuana in Washington Petition to Washington State Legislators was created by and written by Jack Kogan (jack_millions@yahoo.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.