* Users warned to light up in private or face citations
* Police limit enforcement action to warnings for now
(Adds court challenge of law’s driving-while-impaired
provisions, paragraphs 12-13)
By Laura L. Myers
SEATTLE, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Washington state made history on
Thursday as the first in the nation to legalize marijuana for
adult recreational use, an occasion celebrated by dozens of
users near Seattle’s famed Space Needle amid blaring reggae
music and a haze of pot smoke.
The pre-dawn public gathering defied a key provision of the
state’s landmark marijuana law, which allows possession of small
amounts of marijuana but forbids users from lighting up outside
the privacy of their homes.
The gathering also underscored mixed law enforcement
messages about the statute. Hours earlier, Seattle’s city
attorney issued a stern warning that public pot puffing would
not be tolerated and violators faced citations with $100 fines.
But the prosecutor’s admonition was contradicted by the
Seattle Police Department’s own instructions to officers to
limit their enforcement actions to warnings, at least for now.
The new law, passed by voters last month in a move that
could set the state up for a showdown with the federal
government, removes criminal sanctions for anyone 21 or older
possessing 1 ounce (28.5 grams) or less of pot for personal use.
Colorado voters also chose to legalize pot for personal
recreational use, but that measure is not due to take effect
until next month. Both states are among 18 that have already
removed criminal sanctions for medical use of marijuana.
The Washington law legalizes possession of up to 16 ounces
(0.45 kg) of solid cannabis-infused goods – like brownies or
cookies – and up to 72 ounces (2.4 kg) of weed in liquid form.
But driving under the influence of cannabis or imbibing in
public places where the consumption of alcohol is already
banned remain illegal.
“If you’re smoking in plain public view, you’re subject to a
ticket,” Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes told a news
conference on Wednesday. “If drinking in public is disallowed,
so is smoking marijuana in public.”
‘VICTORY FOR HEMP’
The new law ultimately will permit cannabis to be legally
sold and taxed at state-licensed stores in a system to be
modeled after those in many states for alcohol sales. The state
Liquor Control Board, along with agriculture and public health
officials, have until next December to set up such a system.
For now, it remains a crime to sell, cultivate or even share
one’s own stash, even though the law allows individuals to
purchase a limited amount for personal possession.
Ironically, an early court challenge of the law came from a
medical marijuana patient in Olympia, who filed suit last week
seeking to block enforcement of a new standard for marijuana
impairment while driving, similar to the blood-alcohol standard
for drunken driving.
The plaintiff, Arthur West, says the new legal limit – 5
nanograms per milileter of blood of THC, pot’s active ingredient
– would unfairly subject him to prosecution for a THC level at
which he routinely drives without impairment. A hearing on his
request for an injunction was set for Friday.
Little if any of the law’s fine points seemed to matter to
the mellow and largely middle-aged gathering of about 100 people
near the foot of the Space Needle as the statute took effect at
midnight.
Low-key cries of “Yeah!” and “Smoke some weed” and “Anybody
got a bong?” rose after an Oregon radio personality, “Radical”
Russ Belville, finished a 10-second countdown on a bullhorn.
Mike Momany, 61, wearing a black “Bad Pig” brand motorcycle
jacket, said he was forming the Washington State Cannabis
Tourism Association to promote pot tourism. Although he has
smoked grass for 40 years, Momany said he had slowed his intake
“because it makes me eat too much.”
Another smoker, wearing sunglasses and calling himself
“Professor Gizmo,” 50, said: “Victory for hemp. If our
forefathers could see us now.”
No police were visible as the aroma of cannabis wafted
through the air and Bob Marley music blared from loudspeakers.
There were no immediate reports of any arrests.
Appeals to keep pot smoke indoors were expected to go
unheeded again at a larger celebration by marijuana advocates
planned for Thursday evening at the Space Needle.
Celebrations over pot legalization were later overshadowed
b y violence, as police said two masked men who tried to rob a
large pot-growing operation in a residential garage were shot
and killed outside of Tacoma.
LAID-BACK APPROACH
The Seattle Police Department publicized its laid-back pot
enforcement directive on its “SPD Blotter” website on Wednesday,
but advised against flagrantly lighting up in public.
“The police department believes that under state law, you
may responsibly get baked, order some pizzas and enjoy a Lord of
the Rings marathon in the privacy of your own home, if you want
to,” the notice said.
While asserting that public pot use remained expressly
prohibited, Seattle police said officers lacked clear
enforcement authority and that it would take at least 30 days
for legislation to be crafted enabling officers to cite
violators.
In the meantime, in the spirit of the new law, “the
department’s going to give you a generous grace period to help
you adjust to this brave, new and maybe kinda’ stoned world we
live in,” the department’s online message says.
Prosecutors in several counties said last month they were
dismissing scores of misdemeanor marijuana possession cases in
advance of the new law. But whether public or private, cannabis
use violates federal law, which classifies marijuana as an
illegal narcotic.
U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan in Seattle reiterated on
Wednesday the U.S. Justice Department position that growing,
selling or possessing any amount of marijuana remained a federal
crime, regardless of any changes in state law.
(Additional reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky in Olympia; Writing
by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Todd Eastham and
Peter Cooney)
