By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Well sure, Initiative 502 has passed but don’t think you can walk down the street and light up a bowl without getting arrested.
For starters, the new law regarding marijuana won’t take effect for 30 days, according to Centralia Police Chief Bob Berg.
And rules have to be written, Chehalis Police Chief Glenn Schaffer said.
“The questions are going to be confusing for people and the police,” Schaffer said yesterday. “We’ve been talking about it from a law enforcement perspective all day.”
The police chiefs of the two largest cities in Lewis County indicate they will be getting guidance from their legal advisors and / or other state and federal authorities.
Sheriff Steve Mansfield is looking to the county prosecutor and a communication from the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington for answers.
Its article disseminated yesterday indicates that as of Dec. 6, it will be legal under state law for individuals 21 or older to possess as much as one ounce of marijuana.
But it will be more than a year before licenses are issued to growers, distributors and retailers, according to the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington.
However, the sheriff says: “It is business as usual for us until all this gets finalized.”
The decisions about felony charges, and for misdemeanor crimes when the arrests come from the sheriff’s office and the state patrol in Lewis County are made by the elected prosecutor.
Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer yesterday morning met with the prosecutor in Thurston County on the topic and is studying the issue.
“We’re going though our analysis, figuring out the impact on us,” Meyer said.
There are still more questions than answers.
Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, and Meyer isn’t certain the feds won’t play a role in how or whether the changes unfold.
“I suspect the federal government will step in and maybe issue an injunction,” he said.
The former defense attorney even hinted some police agencies may choose to continue to view marijuana as illegal.
“The way Arizona as a state enforced federal statutes in the immigration issue,” he said.
Mansfield said he’s disappointed, but as the elected sheriff, he serves the people.
“Lewis County said they don’t want this, but it’s statewide,” he said, referring to the preliminary ballot tallies.
Only 44 percent of Lewis County voters favored the measure, while 55 percent of voters throughout Washington said yes to I-502.
“If the law says this is what we’ll do, this is what we’ll do,” Mansfield said.
•••
For further information:
• Chief Schaffer shared a summary to legislators that shed some light for him. Read it here
• “What’s next for pot use in Washington? It’s a bit hazy” from The Olympian on Wednesday November 7, 2012, here
• “Pot legal Dec. 6, ‘jury is out on what happens’ after that” by The Seattle Times on Wednesday November 7, 2012 at 9:14 p.m. and November 8, 2012 at 3:52 p.m., here
• “Inquiries about pot production, sale flood two state agencies” from The Olympian on Thursday November 8, 2012, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
How law enforcement deals with medical marijuana in lewis county is a win win for them. First they raid the property, private property i might add then they check your medical cards then they take everything you own that may have value take your garden and your job and any money you may have saved THEN they charge you with a crime and tell you to say you are a criminal and serve a year and a day in state prison and if you refuse to say you are a criminal they will try to get a 20 year sentence. Heres why its win win for them, all that has to happen is for you to be found guilty of something during your trial and they get to keep your stuff and auction it off to other people who are going to use it to grow marijuana and the sheriffs dept keeps the money from auction
@Heather – best comprehensive yet simple observation of applying the principles of I502. Bottom line: it’s not complicated. That said, however, what will be complicated is the negotiations between state and feds to hold onto its validity.
DCE why don’t you tell the truth for once. You say CPD has begged you to take down your website. Thats Bull Shit and you know it. Sgt Shannon told you two weeks ago to leave it up as its like cartoons for the cops and the citizens.
U don’t drink walking down the street in Washington so clearly don’t light up walking down the street. Enjoy the fact we can now do so in our homes and on our property with out it being a problem. Don’t abuse the privilege !
I’m concerned that Lewis County Officials will not honor the new law that is going into effect soon. I’m sick of citizens being afraid of the cops. If more people stood up to them they would run like the little girls they are!
“King and Pierce County prosecutors are dismissing more than 220 misdemeanor marijuana cases in response to Tuesday’s vote to decriminalize small amounts of pot.”
As reported by the AP.
Now, let’s see if Mansfield has the moral fiber to follow suit and drop all his b.s. pot charges against the citizens of Lewis County.
George is one of the sheeple Orwell warned us about
In regards to the drug testing issue.. I have a good question for the community, how often are police officers drug tested and is the test done through a hair folicle type of procedure? Seems that if drug testing is such a big issue, that the Defenders of the Public “AKA” the Police should be tested often just like Lance Armstrong or Micheal Phelps, whom by the way is an Olympic Gold Medal Winner and has smoked marijuana.
This whole fight is a joke, Cannabis is no different than than beer. In fact Marijuana is from the Hop Family of Plants. You can also graph cannabis to a hop plant. Seems that the argument is about two closely related species of plants. .. Wake up and smell the beer suds or was that Cannabis Fire.
See, here’s the fallacy of your argument to make excuses for hard-line communist private companies.
You say, “If you want the job, then you have to decide: is it more important for me to have a job, or is it more important that I can smoke pot or drink a beer?”
The FACT is, there nothing wrong with having the RIGHT to have a beer, a fag, or a joint AND work. Just because you smoke a joint and can’t pass a discriminatory pee pee test, does not in fact make you lazy or a “victim” or whatever it is you try to paint people who don’t agree with your pro corporate viewpoints.
Let me give you some advice Big George…
If you are so unhappy about not being able to work because you can’t pass a urine test, just get a job with the state. You can be a bureaucrat, work your ass off, and get loaded at home and on weekends.
What’s the big deal dude? You have fantasies that everybody want to be a clean christian working for a big christian corporation and dreaming of that “big break” to become CEO so you can do all the dope you want and never do work but be judge over poor people.
It’s a lie bro.
So true Semper
Actually, SF, a private company has every right to put certain restrictions on who it employs. If they want to not hire people for using pot, cigarettes, or alcohol, that is their right.
If you want the job, then you have to decide: is it more important for me to have a job, or is it more important that I can smoke pot or drink a beer?
It has nothing to do with finding a “better job,” but everything to do with having a job to begin with.
Again, your call: Work, or weed. Can’t always have both.
Which is exactly why it doesn’t make sense to work for a company that does urine testing UNLESS your job is safety-sensitive and can cause injury to others.
Taking a drug test to qualify for a shelf-stocker at Wal-Mart should be a red flag to find a better job. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was written to prohibit the abuse of employers by employees.
Unfortunately, the limited degree of protection afforded by the Fourth Amendment protects only public employees. It does nothing to protect those who work in the private sector.
Randomly testing employees while ignoring the massive fraud and substance abuse by employers is wasteful.
@ OMG, that is one of the great things in this. Yes, pot may soon be legal, but that doesn’t mean a company has to hire you if you use it, or if you pop on a urinalysis. Private companies can, and DO, bar people from working for them if they drink, and in some companies, even if they smoke cigarettes. It’s all a choice of “do I want to smoke pot, or do I want the job?”
I’m willing to bet that a lot of folks out there will skip the whole “work” thing and stick with the pot. It’s all about a sense of priority…
@OMG Really – well said. I think that’s where just because we CAN doesn’t mean that we SHOULD.
WEED should stay illegal !! The mearure may have passed but if you can’t piss clean I am NOT hiring you! If you wreck into me with you car I will SUE you.
DCE, you should do some research before opening your mouth. Your ignorance is showing more and more.
To whit: I-502 had absolutely NOTHING to do with medical marijuana. Nothing. Zip. Nada. Zilch. Which means that those who have state-issued permits to grow it for legitimate medical reasons will still be allowed to do so.
I-502, while having NOTHING to do with medical marijuana, had EVERYTHING to do with the casual user, the “recreational” user. It is NOT legal to smoke it yet. Nor is it legal to grow it, sell it, or distribute it.
IF (yes, that is a capital IF) the federal government does NOT step in, then on December 6, it will become legal for a person 21 or older to have up to one ounce of marijuana in his/her possession. But you STILL will not be allowed to just walk down the street puffing away. There are caveats in the rules that state that the marijuana must NOT be used in public. Kinda like drinking, where you will get in trouble if you walk down the street while drinking a beer.
As for growing it or selling it, the Washington Liquor Control Board is tasked with putting together the rules and regulations for that, and those rules/regulations will NOT be ready for at least 6 months to a year (I’ve heard a year as a low estimate, too). This means that, until they DO come up with the rules and regulations for growing and selling it, if you are caught, you can STILL be charged with felony “manufacturing and/or distributing.”
Again, I-502 has absolutely NOTHING to do with medical marijuana, nor will it affect those who legitimately use it. IF the federal government doesn’t step in (again, a big IF), then you will see a lot of misdemeanor cases concerning possession getting tossed. It will help the cops focus on more pressing things, like drunk drivers, thefts, and “hard” drugs.
It helps to know the facts.
There isn’t such a thing as the Lewis County Public Defenders Office. Attorneys opt to be listed on a revolving “Assigned Council” list, and when their name comes up on the list, they get assigned the case.
I liked this article: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2012/nov/07/marijuana-for-many-employees-its-legalization-in/
“Anyone who works for the federal government still will be prohibited from using marijuana.
“Any “at-will” employees, who can be fired without cause, also might be putting themselves at risk by lighting up. For nonfederal union employees, the marijuana initiative also could mean more time at the bargaining table.
“I-502 legalizes possession of as much as an ounce of pot, but it “does not require employers to accommodate the use of the marijuana,” said Michael Subit, an employment attorney who argued an important medical marijuana case before the state Supreme Court.
“The ACLU helped get I-502 on the ballot.”
This is beginning to look a lot like Obamacare – pass first, read later.
So if you know my Criminal History what is this going to accomplish? Nothing. I have paid my dues to society. I will say this once again. The Lewis County Public Defenders Office is selling people out in Lewis County Court Rooms. “State Vs. Hanson” is a clear defense for Medical Marijuana Possesion, yet the Public Defenders Office has allowed numerous people to be convicted when they were clearly qualifying Medical Marijuana Patients. I point this out to the readers and the only thing “Concerned” can say is will someone look up my criminal record. No Concerned Lets Look at Lewis County’s Criminal record, The Public Pretenders Office is not defending MMJ Patients properly. In fact, I have Public Disclosed the City of Centralia Municipal Courts records and last year there was not One Jury Trial held in the Cirty of Centralia’s Court room… So basicly everyone took a plea bargin, and not one singal person ever took a case to Trial…. Need I say any more? Here I am looking out for the community’s best interest by pointing out the corruption and all people want too do is talk about my criminal record…. People look around you the real criminals are working for the Public Court System. When a Public Defenders office fails to take even one court case to Trial in a years time something is broken inside the Legal System… Exposing Criminal corruption is Honrable and in the Eye’s of Patriots Dissent is the Highest Form of Patriotism.. “Thomas Jefferson” If more people like me stood up to these public official criminal types we could shut the Lewis County Rail Road down……
DCE, you seem to like to smear hate and discontent more than you want to change anything. Will somebody please put in a request for his criminal history through the public information act and find out what he’s hiding!! He’s either nuts or hiding something dark!
DCE, You did not vote. An I wrong?
Ah so wrong again George. Marijuana Patients, AKA prescription Card holders can and will continue to grow cannabis. I-692 is alive and well in Washington. Since 1999 MMJ patients have been allowed to cultivate Cannabis. Lewis County recently rail roaded a woman for possession of marijuana. She was a card holder but here MMJ card had expired. The public pretenders office failed to protect this woman with the proper case law. “Wa. State Vs. Hanson http://caselaw.findlaw.com/wa-court-of-appeals/1285581.html Many people have been sold down the river in Lewis County because the Public Pretenders office fails to fight for MMJ patients rights. Look at all of the other surrounding counties in the state. Oh and lets not forget about that cop in Oakville that was Raping a Dispensary owner. The officer even admitted to having sex with the MMJ Dis. Owner…. Top Cop Porks Pot Shop Owner Story Here http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/08/pot_dispensary_owner_sues_sher.php
“So, Marijuana will soon be legal according to state law. Fine. Yes, the voters have said that is what they wanted. Over 21, you can have up to an ounce. But you still can’t grow it, nor can you sell it. THAT is still going to be a crime, up until the time that laws pertaining to those things have been finalized.”
It would be up the state that the cannabis was grown “illegally” i.e. NOT by a State authorized producer, OR they would have to prove you were providing said product without a tax. My closest analogy to that would the “marijuana tax-stamp” that made cannabis “legal” if it was taxed, yet the state did not actually give or produce a “stamp”. It’s basically a classic double cross. Nothing new.
But what if the federal government steps in and says “It is still illegal.” Then what? Who takes precedence? The feds do, of course. And if a cop busts you, they can always refer your case to the federal prosecutors.
You’re right. However, the feds aren’t going to go after mom and pop operations that are serving only a few people, at least if they can ascertain if they possess firearms. I’m not saying this is a classic scenario, but when there are guns and kids involved, the amount of dope being grown and the attention to it decreases exponentially.
Most likely, the feds will sit back and watch the different political action committees spend millions creating a dog-eat-dog atmosphere, thus challenging I-502’s implementation on constituional grounds, while the feds sit back and cherry pick the cases they may or may not want to go after.
So, Marijuana will soon be legal according to state law. Fine. Yes, the voters have said that is what they wanted. Over 21, you can have up to an ounce. But you still can’t grow it, nor can you sell it. THAT is still going to be a crime, up until the time that laws pertaining to those things have been finalized.
But what if the federal government steps in and says “It is still illegal.” Then what? Who takes precedence? The feds do, of course. And if a cop busts you, they can always refer your case to the federal prosecutors.
Methinks the local “hate troll” should have done a little more research and gotten the REAL facts before commenting.
correction:
When I said that it’s, “business as usual” in regard to the Sheriff’s office decision which laws to break and which laws to enforce, I mistakenly attributed that quote to the prosecuter when in fact it was Mansfield that made such an anti-democratic statement.
“The former defense attorney even hinted some police agencies may choose to continue to view marijuana as illegal.”
In other words, the law enforcement officials who work for the STATE will still decide which laws they want to enforce and which laws they want to break.
As the prosecutor said, “It’s business as usual”.
What a joke.
Oh, look! It’s DCE……. :/
Oh I have one more Comment… Check Out These Top Cops, They Have The Facts Straight About Cannabis….http://www.leap.cc/
This web site is straight forward and if your a “Hate Troll” you should investigate the facts before you comment…..
Look at how the Government Officials are acting. We the People voted and Marijuana has now been legalized. But the Cops don’t want to step down from their High Horse and listen to the voters. It’s time Steve Mansfield found another job. Wasting the Tax Payers money for a harmless plant is Bull Shit….. Remember the Oath you have taken. You are a State Official not a Federal Employee Mr. Mansfield This all comes down to money! The future of Marijuana is a Legalized One. Quit Telling the Voters to F Off.. Because going against the Wishes of the Voters is Treason…