Update 5: More videos are now available, and more will be uploaded as time and bandwidth are available. Douglas Hiatt kicks off the meeting, Douglas Hiatt speaks about the history of I-1068, Douglas Hiatt speaks about the history of I-1068 (continued), Douglas Hiatt introduces Donovan Rivers for Congress, Q&A with Donovan Rivers for Congress, Sensible Washington reorganization brainstorming.
Update 4: We have posted slides based on the technology team presentation. A few more videos will be available in the near future.
Update 3: We have posted written notes from the meeting. These will be easier to follow along with audio or video. We are doing our best to get video processed and uploaded in a timely manner. Thanks for your patience.
Update 2: Thank you to everyone who attended today’s meeting in person or online. Despite no power outlets and short notice, we were able to stream and record much of the meeting! We’re processing and compiling footage and notes and will be releasing them over the next several days. For now you can watch the partial recording of the live stream of today’s meeting.
Update: For those who cannot attend, we will be attempting to stream this meeting live at the sensiblewa channel on USTREAM. If you miss the live stream or if there are technical issues, we will be posting video of the meeting within 48 hours.
Volunteers and supporters are encouraged to attend the state-wide meeting and potluck. Meet the leadership, ask questions, get answers, and have your say about the 2011 Sensible Washington initiative campaign.
Tell us what worked and what didn’t, express compliments and complaints, and volunteer your time and talent as we move ahead.
When: Saturday June 17, 2010, 10AM through the afternoon. Meeting agenda begins at 11AM.
Where: Lake Geneva Park in Federal Way, at the corner of 46th Ave S and S 344th St.
Please RSVP to Don Skakie at sensiblenorthwest@gmail.com if you plan to attend. Please bring a dish to share.
This is a family friendly event! The park has a picnic area with a playground for kids ages 5-12, and the lake is a short stroll away.
If you cannot attend, please leave any specific questions or comments you have in the comments for this post. We’ll read them and cover as much as we can on Saturday. We will be recording the proceedings using text and video and will make that available soon after the meeting.
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Just read the written notes. Competely understand where this is going. Please expect my continued support.
Sry Everyone I couldn’t make the early time as I work nights. Don give me a call brother and let me know how things went. And If you need me to do anything this time around I’m here.
Great ideas David K., but Washington has a ‘single initiative’ rule. You will want to look it up and see why and what-for’s.
This late night comment is basically a mixture of two things I wrote at the beginning of July. One on this site and one in an email. It’s prompted by some recent comments here. My continued support for Sensible Washington is conditional on another Sensible Washington initiative which I support. If I think “son of I-1068″ is bad I won’t support it and if I think it is very bad I’ll actively oppose it. I’ll be setting some money aside for donation but waiting until I know what the new initiative will say before deciding whether to donate it to Sensible Washington or somewhere else.
I support the repeal of unjust marijuana related laws and hope to see more protection from legislative undermining of this repeal as I mention below referring to a provision along the lines of the RCW’s exemption of home beer and wine manufacture from taxation or business license requirements (RCW 66.12.010 and RCW 66.28.140 are primarily what I’m referring to). Prohibiting state penalties, licensing or taxes for marijuana manufactured/grown “for private consumption, and not for sale” doesn’t directly conflict with federal law, protects against some of the worst abuse the legislature can inflict on repeal of prohibition, could be a means of donation of marijuana for medicinal use and genuinely works towards a goal of reducing illegal commerce in marijuana by reducing the potential profit which fuels the illegal commerce. I think something of the sort could be included if the writers of “son of I-1068″ want to include it though they may foresee some unintended consequences which I don’t.
I oppose “sin taxes” on marijuana. Others favor extortionately high taxes. I suspect the new initiative would be treading on thin ice regarding the single subject issue and another legal matter to take a position either way regarding business regulation and this devisive issue will again be left to the legislature to deal with. Frankly I don’t see how business regulation, other than penalties, can be created without positive conflict with federal law anyway. If I did I’d want a provision protecting inexpensive sale of marijuana for medicinal use with no record of sale or other requirements the federal government could use to prosecute people.
I believe we can qualify an initiative for the ballot as an all volunteer effort and the initiative will be more likely to pass in the election that way than if it gets on the ballot through professional signature gatherers. Where I primarily gathered signatures the I-1068 volunteers received an astounding amount of respect from the community. We influenced many people to think about the idea of ending penalties for responsible adult use of marijuana with more open minds. We were part of the community and ready to carry forward the work to win the election if I-1068 qualified for the ballot. Professional signature gatherers might have gotten more signatures but they wouldn’t have created this sort of respect, positively influenced people about the subject matter or been around to campaign for election victory which is our goal.
I’ve been informed we collected about 100,000 “high-quality” (i.e., probably valid) signatures by May 20 and about 80,000 more “high quality” signatures in the following 6 weeks. If that is roughly accurate, I interpret it as meaning our efforts to gather signatures became far more successful as word of the Sensible Washington web site spread and as petitioners experienced better conditions for signature gathering. During the last week of June I was still getting signatures from people who told me they’d been wanting to sign the initiative but hadn’t seen a petitioner or known where to find a petition to sign. If we maintain the web site’s domain name, keep it reasonably active to recruit potential volunteers for the future, add persuasive material and good links for undecided voters, keep spreading the word about the web site and have a good initiative for the next attempt, I think the next attempt will get a Sensible Washington initiative on the ballot. To do all of this will take some ongoing involvement from volunteers which I think will be beneficial since it keeps people involved and because I anticipate our remarkable effort will be drawing ongoing opposition from governmental and other entities with vested interests in maintaining criminal penalties and the illegal marijuana market.
BTW, unless my math is wrong if Washington’s qualification percentage for this type of initiative was the same as California’s we’d have been waiting in early July to learn if enough of our signatures were valid for I-1068 to make the ballot and Richard Lee & Jeffery Jones would presumably have been sweating bullets over the possibility of competition for nation-wide donations from marijuana legalization supporters and national debate about the relative merits of the very different natures of the inititiatives.
a.. Dennis Peron, the co-author of California Proposition 215 (1996), spoke out against the taxation of marijuana in August 2009. Peron, who has been described as the “father of the medical marijuana movement”, was then fired by Oaksterdam University, a leading proponent of ballot initiatives to legalize-and-tax marijuana.[45] In response, Peron has begun a weekly picket at the Coffeeshop Blue Sky medical marijuana
dispensary, owned by Richard Lee. The picket takes place on Friday evenings.[46]
a.. Jack Herer co-authored Proposition 215 with Peron. Herer also opposes the taxation of marijuana. He gave a speech at Oregon’s HempStalk Festival on September 12th, 2009 during which he decried what he calls “cannabusiness”, indicating his opposition to the taxation of marijuana:
“I don’t want to f*king give the United States government one f*king dollar of taxes. I think that they should go to f**king jail for getting you and me and 20 million people getting arrested for pot. It is the safest thing you can do in the universe. And that is what we are going to do in California.”
http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_19,_the_Marijuana_Legalization_Initiative_(2010)#Arguments_against
In case anyone overlooked this, the sponsors of California’s 2010 Proposition 19 did not help Sensible Washington in any significant way. To my knowledge they didn’t help in any way at all. If SEIU had donated to Sensible Washington in May the roughly $10,000 they spent on a political committee to study I-1068, we might well have been able to spend it on advertising in time to get I-1068 qualified for the ballot. In retrospect SEIU’s involvement seems to have been a distraction. We were ignored or neglected by groups and people I would have expected to support us; we may do better there in the future but we shouldn’t depend on that. We should seek allies and help but depend on ourselves.
I suspect there will be some legislative changes in Washington’s marijuana laws and the next initiative will have to be rewritten to reflect or anticipate that. It appears to me the simplicity of I-1068 has been very favorable. I-1068 was straightforward and didn’t take on devisive issues. I’d like to have seen it include something comparable to the home beer brewing and wine making exemptions from taxation and business license requirements, think this might have been somewhat helpful in getting signatures and very helpful in protecting the initiative from legislative undermining of its intent. No doubt other people will make many other suggestions for possible changes in the next initiative and many will be good. My suggestion reflects orientation towards protection of personal liberties, affordability for medicinal users and reducing crime by reducing the potential profit from marijuana law related crimes. Perhaps it would be unacceptable to too many of the “tax the hell out of it” people. When considering suggestions, I think Keep It Simple and Don’t Divide Reformers Or Voters With Issues Of Disagreement should remain guiding principles.
@Trey: I agree! Unfortunately the window of time for collecting signatures for citizens’ initiatives is during the first half of each year.
i bet gathering sigs at hempfest would almost get the needed amount
Thanks for all the great comments everyone.
Inside Player, we’re not CA, and I’ve lived there. WA can and will do it, all vol if need be and by me frankly, preferably, even though it’s hard work. We now have the support of those that had dismissed us earlier and a committed base of volunteers to collect signatures, lobby legislators, educate voters, support candidates and have registered enough new voters to affect the election outcomes in many counties. That is on top of a public that supports us but could not find us!
Tom Butler, I’m so sorry we weren’t available to help you more. Your ideas just made tomorrows agenda and it is our job to find a way to make that work under PDC rules. Money will give us visibility and presence we didn’t have this year. (Hey IP! Send us a check! You too Chris!) This time we won’t be spread so thin building the organization, we’ll be going to work with it and making sure it happens!
Mimi, I’ll add your $4.20 weekly to $40 for Freedom and Text to Donate. It looks like no streaming yet but check tomorrow morning.
Thank you all again for your great ideas and efforts in the cause.
Don
Ryan, I agree with you about the age limit, but I think it is too big of a step for the general population. 21 seems like it would get more votes. We have to think about the conservative parents out there.
I personally think we need to light a fire under the legislature’s ass. That is the purpose behind what I suggested. AND, it just might gain the support of other special interest groups, such as the ACLU (though it wouldn’t break my heart if they didn’t get on board). I think we need as many people backing our cause next time as possible.
ALSO, I think that the statement of purpose needs to at least hint at the valid arguments behind the movement. It will get people thinking about how legalization will benefit them and how the arguments against legalization fail miserably.
We also need to start soliciting for donations NOW. For example, have a booth set up at Hempfest asking for donations. If we could start with 40,000 dollars next time, I think we would make it. Look how much we gathered in 24 hours when we needed the space in the Stranger. Think if we could do that every week in several newspapers across the state! That would get us media coverage and volunteers.
Everyone’s ideas are valuable here. Let’s learn from what happened and get it done next time!!! To the finish line!!
How about “Donate $4.20 to legalize it!” I mean, it’s less than $5, and for those with more, $4.20 a week works just as well.
Next year we will be on the ballot. We were 80% of the way there with a group without any real experience.
Now we are a well seasoned group of signature gatherers and collectors that are well connected with each other.
Although I started collecting in February I did not really know what I was doing until late May. I am sure that was true for many of us.
I believe our greatest collective failing was to not realize that as grassroots organizers WE are the prime fundraisers for the campaign.
We need to understand that we can not count on organizations that shout loudly about fixing problem, but are more concerned with the process than the outcome. For many of the people in these organizations their livelihood depends on the problem never actually being fixed; only going to work everyday “trying to solve the problem.”
We need to further understand that once we have gotten a signature we need to try to turn that person into a volunteer or a donor.
Although I did get over 30 people to volunteer to collect signatures for me only once or twice did I even try to get someone to donate money.
I handed out around a thousand cards with five reasons a person should sign, but 0 cards telling people how they could volunteer or donate.
How many times did people say “I would sign that 10, 20 or 100 times if I could”?
I did not know to reply “I understand we can buy signatures for 25 cents apiece from paid gatherers.”
“If you send a check to Sensible Washington for $19.99 they do not have to send your personal information to the state and it is just like signing 80 times.”
“You can do that on five separate occasions if you want. So to put it another way for $99.95 you could sign this petition 400 times if you wanted.”
“Now how many times did you say you wanted to sign my petition?”
Looks pretty good Alex although I feel that all adults (18 and over) should be allowed to possess cannabis without the fear of law enforcement
I would love to be there but won’t be able to make it unfortunantly. I will definitely watch the video as soon as it’s posted.
I was thinking that the pins are a really good idea to have for sale during the big events again and I was thinking, would it be worth looking into getting decals that can go on glass on cars? Something suttle, to the point and inexpensive to make but brings awareness to the cause. If we can get a good deal with a business we could give them to people for signing if they are willing to put them on their vehicles. It’s (almost) free advertising and people would be more willing to put them on cars since it won’t cause any damage the he cars paint etc… just a thought.
I wish everyone attending a fun, productive and inspirational day and I look foreward to hearing all the new ideas!
Just a thought . . . . . what do you think?
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1
Statement of Purpose.
(1) The people of the State of Washington are concerned about the millions of dollars spent each year to arrest, prosecute and incarcerate people for marijuana offenses. It is widely accepted that marijuana is a benign therapeutic substance that, unlike other substances such as tobacco, alcohol, acetaminophen, and acetylsalicylic acid, has never caused a single death.
(2) The people of the State of Washington wish marijuana and hemp to be a legal and taxed commodity, subject to a regulatory system that aims to keep the consumer informed and the community safe. Under such a system, illegal drug cartels and criminal street gangs will loose critical funding, farming communities in Eastern Washington will benefit greatly from mass hemp production, significant tax revenue will be raised, and state and county funds will no longer be used to incarcerate non-violent marijuana users. In addition, our youth will no longer have free unrestricted access to marijuana once it is regulated
(3)The people of the State of Washington also believe that since RCW 69.51A only provides an affirmative defense, qualified patients are not adequately protected under the law.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.
This act refers to itself as the Marijuana Reform Act, and may be known and cited as the same.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.
Legislative Action Demanded
The Washington State Legislature shall have eighteen months from the day the Marijuana Reform Act becomes law to create a regulatory system for marijuana and hemp consumption, production and distribution.
(1) The purpose of this new regulatory system shall strictly be as follows:
(a)To create a legal distinction between marijuana and hemp based solely on tetrahydrocannabinol content.
(b)To regulate the sale and distribution of hemp and hemp byproducts for energy, clothing, paper, food, and oil.
(c)To regulate where marijuana can be consumed without fear of prosecution;
(d)To regulate the number of marijuana plants that can legally be grown by an individual for personal consumption.
(e)To regulate how much marijuana can be grown commercially by individuals or legal entities
(f)To create a mandatory labeling system for retailers that is designed to inform the consumer of the tetrahydrocannabinol content of any strain of marijuana sold to the public;
(g)To set enforceable standards for indoor grow operations that are environmentally safe and that prohibit indoor grow operations in residences where children under eighteen years old reside;
(h)To regulate the types of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, preservatives and fertilizers that can be used in cultivating and processing marijuana that is to be made available to the public; and
(i)To strictly prohibit driving under the influence of marijuana.
2)The new regulatory system shall not:
(a)Tax marijuana or hemp to such an extreme that it permits an illegal market for both commodities to thrive;
(b)Permit any person under the age of twenty-one to possess or cultivate marijuana under the criminal statutes, unless such a person has a valid doctor’s recommendation;
(c)Tax marijuana or hemp grown my individuals for private consumption;
(d)Limit the number of marijuana plants that an individual may grow to less than ten;
(e)Create more restrictive regulations for hemp than for any other commonly grown agricultural crop and
(f)Prohibit the consumption of marijuana in the privacy of one’s home.
(3)The Washington State Legislature shall not delay any provision of the Marijuana Reform Act from becoming law in any way, unless two-thirds of both houses approve.
(4)If after eighteen months the Washington State Legislature has not, for any reason, provided the people of Washington State with a workable regulatory system for hemp and marijuana, the following shall take effect immediately until such a regulatory system is instated:
(a)RCW 69.50.4014 shall read as follows: Persons over the age of twenty-one may possess and cultivate marijuana. Any person under twenty-one years of age found to be in possession of marijuana is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
(b)With the explicit exception of RCW 69.50.4014, any title, chapter or section of the Revised Code of Washington that criminalizes any act of possession or distribution of marijuana or any of its active or inactive ingredients, or that causes the seizure or forfeiture of property from a marijuana related offense, or that enhances a sentence due to circumstances surrounding a marijuana offense, shall have no legal effect and can not be used as a basis for any state prosecution. This section shall not be construed to invalidate any current prohibitions, restrictions, and penalties for all other controlled substances contained in the Revised Code of Washington.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.
Conflict of Laws.
In the event that any sections of this Act are in conflict with any other law codified in the Revised Code of Washington, the provisions of this Act shall control.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.
Captions Not Laws.
Captions used in this chapter are not any part of the law.
From the start it was a mistake to not consult and coordinate with the strategic players behind the California marijuana initiative . They are serious political players that have spent a lot of time and money on research and how to get a measure like this passed in the current environment. A serious political candidate or campaign would never assume they are somehow different and can win without professional assistance. With marijuana legalization being a sensitive topic, it is going to take more than “grass” roots volunteers to see any real policy change in the future.
I think that for volunteers we did a splendid job and with planning we can do it with or without money. Even if we get money we will need a good volunteer base, I really like what we did with having volunteer coordinators and I think we really need to keep the ones who did well, it’d be a waste to start over since the coordinators who really did their job probably learned a bunch and have their area covered well. On the other side we need to make sure we hear from volunteers on the coordinators that didnt do their job and make sure they are let go or given a smaller role. Those who did well need to have their role increased.
Let us do it, yes we cannabis!
Chris Matthews why dont you move here and help out?
You guys need to do what you did with the Stranger in the first week .Maybe do that with theSeattletimes and seattle weekly.
Hi all,
I’ve started two message board links with information about the meetup here:
http://boards.cannabis.com/washington-wa/187469-washington-state-residents-lets-get-marijuana-legalization-next-years-ballot.html
and here:
http://boards.cannabis.com/activism/187468-washington-state-residents-lets-get-marijuana-legalization-next-years-ballot.html
It would be fabulous if more people would join this message board, so we can drum up interest, excitement and momentum, and recruit potential volunteers.
Thanks! =)
We definitely need to get more professional next time. It was fun working with a bunch of dedicated volunteers, but apparently, money and political savvy wins in our political system, and we all want to win. We need to make political allies early on (ACLU, Dems, Fuse, etc.), including them in the formation of our initiative. We need to do some serious fundraising. And we need to have leaders who know how to do these things.
As for the Native Americans, there is a lot of substance abuse in their communities, so supporting marijuana reform laws would just not be appropriate for them. Here is yet another example of our group’s lack of political experience. We must pick and choose our constituency.
Glad to see you guys up and moving again. I am a north Idaho resident and watched the previous campaign very closely. I will pack up and move to Washington in a heartbeat if you can get it passed. Good luck!
Take a little time to ask yourself “What do I believe in?”
If you are a member of a political group- ask yourself- “What do they believe in?”
My answer-
I believe in freedom in a general sense- certainly beyond my own personal choices.
Freedom means peaceable, responsible, adult choices are left to individuals to make.
If freedom is the way we attempt to justify US foreign policy- peaceable, responsible adults should be able to act on that freedom without controversy.
True freedom is freedom beyond one’s own choices.
Sadly I don’ t think that an all-volunteer effort can succeed in the initiative process. I worked hard to collecti signatures but the only way to win this is to raise money, possibly through Hempfest outreach, and have some professional staff, and at least half paid signature gatherers.
Making a point of turning in all petitions, every other week all through, is important I’ll bet there were hundreds of petitions with signatures that never made the count. I took one down to the office the last day that I found in my car after I sent the rest in and I was fairly organized about it all.
I applaud the effort by all who helped but feel strongly that to succeed next time we must overcome the stereotype that it’s a bunch of pot smokers who can’t get it together. I heard that over and over again although I am a gray-haired college educated serious professional who just thinks locking people up for pot is expensive and senseless. I can’t tell you how many people I asked to sign who were too paranoid to do so thinking they’d “end up on a list”….
Great ideas Alex, Philip is correct about the tribal leadership, boy were they cold!
Mimi, I’m sorry about the short notice. Please keep an eye on FB and this page for updates on how to follow along online in the next few days.
Don
alex, a couple of thoughts, if i may: we did have a wsu v uw contest one week in late april. sadly, it rained in seattle the entire time. i don’t recall who won. as for the native american nations, we tried to get permission to signature gather at facilities on two nations’ properties (that i recall) and were shot down each time by tribal councils. i believe it was the tuylallips who equated marijuana with meth and pretty much asked “how dare you?” seriously.
I am disabled and it is difficult for me to get to any meetings on such short notice. Please try to plan about two weeks out or more and I am sure attendance will increase. I would love to go, I just need a little time to make arrangements.
How about some handbills that people can print at home and pass out? Something short and informative, with website references for interested persons. You could do a logo in color and black and white, set up the page so it can be copied.
I like the idea of creating the page for volunteers to learn best points.
On the volunteer side-
I’d like to see us engage student groups and clubs, sororities, fraternities, etc. at our major university campuses. Young Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians- anyone who believes in freedom in a general sense.
Doesn’t WSU have a school of agriculture?- emphasize Industrial Hemp. Many of these groups may have a FB page?
Make it competitive- who can get the most signatures- UW, WSU, others?
Young, intelligent 20 somethings who are excited about communicating and working to change public policy.
Alliances-
Has anyone contacted our local Tribes? -business people who do not seem to shy away from controversy- booze, illegal fireworks, gambling, tobacco, etc. The Tribes seem ready to please their customers- State says- “No Indoor Smoking” Tribes say- our casino customers prefer to smoke indoors- go away Washington State.
If we had permission to collect signatures at casinos- we may be able to reach people who are OK with personal responsibility Re: gambling, smoking, drinking, marijuana use, etc.
Free publicity-
Press releases should be used to draw positive attention to the cause.
Not my idea- I saw it posted somewhere-
Create a page where volunteers can learn the best points to make when someone is negative to our cause-
best answers to “gateway drug”, “stoners will be driving while high”, “I don’t want my Dr. or airline pilot stoned” “dangerous message to kids”, etc.
In a short time we could come up with just about any objection- and some good answers to offer the public.
Volunteers will be more confident if they are ready to take on almost any objection.
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