Medical Marijuana

Resources

News Release, Published: 
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Several dozen leading substance abuse prevention and treatment professionals and public health experts, along with the Initiative 502 sponsors, wrote to the Washington Legislature urging that earmarked tax revenue under I-502 not be raided for other purposes.
News Release, Published: 
Monday, January 12, 2015
As medical marijuana heads back to Olympia, legislators are bracing for a rerun of last session’s drama of makeshift dispensary operators and self-appointed patient advocates decrying any effort to rein in abuses of the law.
Published: 
Monday, January 12, 2015
This op-ed first appeared in the Opinion section of the Seattle Times.  As medical marijuana heads back to Olympia, legislators are bracing for a rerun of last session’s drama of makeshift dispensary operators and self-appointed patient advocates decrying any effort to rein in abuses of the law.
News Release, Published: 
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Represented by the ACLU of Washington, three state-licensed marijuana business owners have intervened in a lawsuit challenging the City of Fife’s ban on marijuana operations. The plaintiff-intervenors say the City of Fife’s ban on legal marijuana operations within the city is unconstitutional and is preempted by state law.   Update: On Aug. 29, the court upheld Fife’s ban, saying that I-502 does not require cities to allow marijuana businesses.
News Release, Published: 
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
As intended, the passage of I-502 is having a dramatic effect on low-level marijuana prosecutions. ACLU-WA analysis of Washington court data reveals that filings for misdemeanor marijuana offenses have decreased precipitously – freeing up criminal justice system resources to deal with serious crime.
News Release, Published: 
Thursday, September 19, 2013
The ACLU of Washington hailed a decision by the Washington Supreme Court today recognizing the right of medical marijuana patients to raise a medical necessity defense in court.  The ACLU-WA filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case (State v. Kurtz) saying that the state’s Medical Use of Marijuana Act did not supersede the common law medical necessity defense, and that medical marijuana patients should be able to cite both medical necessity and state law in defending themselves. A medical necessity defense is available to someone who has violated a law, but was justified in doing so because the harm being avoided is greater than the harm of violating the law.
News Release, Published: 
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
SEATTLE - Today, a group of substance abuse prevention and treatment professionals and public health advocates, in collaboration with the ACLU of Washington, submitted recommendations for marijuana rulemaking to the state Liquor Control Board.  Initiative 502, passed by Washington voters last November, requires the board to finalize regulations governing marijuana production and distribution by December 1. The deadline for the public to submit input on the drafting of rules for producer licenses is March 15.
News Release, Published: 
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Passed by Washington’s voters with an 11-point margin, Initiative 502 went into effect on December 6. The measure is an historic step in reforming our state’s marijuana policies and its criminal justice system. Adults no longer are subject to arrest for possessing small amounts of marijuana for personal use under state law.
News Release, Published: 
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
The ACLU of Washington hails the passage of Initiative 502, which legalizes, taxes, and regulates small quantities of marijuana for adults age 21 and older. We look forward to working with state and federal officials and New Approach Washington sponsors to ensure the law is fully and fairly implemented.  
Published: 
Thursday, October 4, 2012
“GOP Senate hopeful latest to endorse legal pot” proclaimed an Associated Press report carried by media statewide yesterday.  It came after Michael Baumgartner, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate who is a state senator from Spokane, announced that he is supporting Initiative 502 – citing his experience as an advisor to a counternarcotics team in Afghanistan.

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