I live in WA and face the same conundrum. If I-502 passes, what response will come from the Feds?

First, the case before the DC Circuit Court of Appeals to force the Feds to reschedule (or give a real, qualifying reason why it shouldn’t) cannabis is not yet done and Obama doesn’t want this issue to come up before Nov. Nothing will happen from the Feds until then. Obama’s been down right violent in his attack on marijuana but will this also change? No need to run again so should he do the right thing? Lots of questions.

I-502 includes the deal breaker ‘per se’ DUI limits. Colorado was playing around with them too. This part of the law will face zero opposition from the Feds. Of all the parts of the bill, this one is the one that will last the longest. It is also the only one that will be enforced. The state will not allow smoke shops to open or license any growers even if the law passes. If the scheduling doesn’t change, advocates will have to force the state to comply through the courts. I’m sure Colorado and Oregon will see something similar.

I’m not a big fan of I-502, favoring Colorado’s approach to be much more intelligent but you play with the cards that you’re dealt.

Only through rescheduling will we ever get any headway in this fight. The states can pass any law that drops restrictions to cannabis, but the Feds will always come busting through your front door anyway. Obama’s terrified of the right. He won’t do anything that paints his administration as soft on crime, even if the evidence is compelling him to.

Let’s hope for a positive outcome from the court case and then work to destroy prohibition once and for all.

If we get ‘smoked’ in November, it’ll be because of attitudes like this. Geez, give me a towel. I have a lot of grief with Obama and both Sens. Murray and Cantwell but I’ll be damned if I’ll sit at home peeing in my Cheerios on Election Day.

I intend on voting for Obama and Cantwell. Vote for a third party? Hell, might as well just tear up my voter card. And spare me the lecture about how no third party can become viable if people act as I do.

VOTE FOR EVERY SWINGING DEM ON THE TICKET!

The batsh!t crazies aren’t going to go away any time soon. The more power we give them in local races, the more viral this ‘social disease’ will become.

So your favorite issue got waxed because Cantwell didn’t vote your way. This happens, get used to it. That’s why we never give up trying. If you really support progressive causes, then there’s no alternative but to vote Democratic. The Repugs sure as hell won’t support any and voting for a 3rd party is just peeing down the well.

We’ve seen what can happen when we come together (Occupy, Komen debacle, contraception debate) there’s no reason we can’t do this again. But, in order to be the most effective, we need as many Democrats in Congress as we can get.

Car Thief Darrell Issa is in charge of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee because we fell asleep back in 2010 and let the Repugs take the helm in the House.

Live and learn.

(Incidentally, Cantwell’s money isn’t Microsoft. It’s Real Networks.)

The ‘Roman’ Catholic Church should be featured at the Smithsonian along with the other dinosaurs. Where else should you put an institution whose sell by date is in the 13th century?

American Catholics should take this opportunity (under Pope Benny) to secede from Rome and become an independent (and more progressive) faith.

That said, the last thing this world needs is another religion telling us what to do, who to marry, and how to live.

Every Catholic I know (myself included) qualifies their profession of faith with phrases like “I used to go to mass”, “lapsed Catholic”, “reformed Catholic”, “still go to midnight mass but otherwise – meh”.

An American church could allow married priests, men women, and gay. It should be more responsive to real world issues involving sexuality, criminal behavior of its prelates, and social responsibility. Antiquated tenets would be discarded to history.

I always found it surreal that whenever you find a priest that champions a progressive social cause, he is always called a ‘radical’ priest. Isn’t that what they’re supposed to do? Wasn’t Jesus such a man?

I maintain that if Jesus were to return today, he’d be more Buddhist than Baptist.

FedEx wouldn’t be thrilled to be helping out Occupy Supply, but they’ll ship a ticking nuke if it’s fully paid for.

I have a considerable list of issues with FedEx and none of them very good, BUT they’ll ship reliably. Most shipping issues with FedEx customers stem from not following instructions clearly. One suggestion: get any account number, it’ll save you $$$ over the retail price.

FedEx is definitely one of the 1%; they also paid 0.9% in taxes last year. I paid a larger % than they did. It’s peak season so be aware of the cutoff times for delivery. Also, FedEx Office locations (formerly Kinko’s) will accept packages.

Full disclosure: I work for the bastards!

The part where you say ” we won’t nail you if you smoked a few bowls a few hours ago” is the kicker. Cops will pull over anyone who stops by a dispensary and test them for THC. The least they will do is record their vehicle license number.

I sound paranoid but have been in the middle of this ‘War on Drugs’ since 1974. One good cop does not a decent police force make. Add to this Holder’s inability to reign in his USA’s. Until prohibition ends, there will always be the threat of federales busting down your door. If they have a law that gives them an edge, like the 5ng/ml limit, they’ll use it.

According to Sensible Washington, there is also the part of the law that restricts home cultivation. Either you buy your weed from the state or you get none. Imagine someone on SS or Medicaid trying to cough up $50 for an eighth oz every week. If they could grow it at home, a $100 investment will provide them with at least an ounce a month for years.

Sorry, I can’t support this initiative. It’s a classic case of tossing the baby out with the bath water. As I said earlier, I am sick and tired working my ass off to make the kind of changes we need to get our collective asses out of this hole only to get back crumbs from my president. Pres. Obama has been an abject failure and a complete disappointment. He lacks the intestinal fortitude to do the job correctly. He only knows how to come along to get along. On this issue all he can do is giggle and blow it off.

This initiative is written, not for patients, but for the self-appointed leaders of the anti-prohibition movement. In order to get the win, to score a goal, they’re willing to toss the most helpless victims of the war on drugs under the paisley VW bus. Says a lot about them, and none of it good.

Go back to the drawing board, rework the bill to remove the 5ng/ml limit and allow home cultivation. People are lazy, they’ll still buy from the state smoke shops but we will enable those who can’t afford their medicine to grow it themselves.

But then all of this would be unnecessary if our president had an eighth oz of backbone.

This ain’t all sunshine and rainbows, folks. This one has a dark cloud.

New Approach Washington is getting closer than any other of our initiatives, that’s true but this one has a deal breaker for me.

I’ve been working on this issue here in WA for over 30 years and have seen my share of ups and downs but this one is tragic.

I-502 contains the 5ng limit DWS (driving while stoned) garbage. THC stays in the system far longer than the ‘high’ lasts. William Breathes of the Denver alt weekly ‘the Westword’, proved that last year. He was completely sober yet tested positive for THC. If passed, this part of the bill will enable all those pissed off gendarmes to pull over MMJ patients at any time and bust them for DWS.

That would bar any patient who medicates with cannabis from driving, even hours (or days) after consumption. Patients who medicate would not be able to legally drive for up to 24 to 48 hours afterward. A trip to the store could mean staying off the meds for two days prior.

The reality is if this becomes law with the 5ng limit, it will be entrenched. There will be no ‘going back later and changing it’ because that never happens. The other thing it will do is embolden other states close to getting medical cannabis legal to add it to their initiatives.

Do we jump on board this initiative because it has the best chance to pass and thrown patients under the bus or do we reject this part of the bill and try again.

I cannot support this initiative in its present form. I’m tired of this. I refuse to compromise my years of activism just for expediency. Nothing is more important to these people (patients) than to be free of their pain and suffering and lead as normal a life as possible. How can we say “sure, here’s your meds but now you can’t drive”?

Is this where we find ourselves after just two years of Obama? Ready to compromise our principles at a drop of a hat just to get a few crumbs from the table?

A quandary to be sure.

This same scenario plays out in every state.

While there are states trying to address this (however unsuccessfully) there are those who are proud as peacocks that they trample the human rights of those who just possess cannabis. Not to mention the Federal Gov’t hypocrisy – DEA storming into homes, trashing property, assaulting the infirm and handicapped people who legally possess medical marijuana with no remorse or guilt. Stone cold, heartless federal stormtroopers attacking those who can defend themselves the least.

Expect no relief from Obama. He’s sold his soul to McConnell and Boehner for 330 pieces of silver.