By TROY BARBER
Guest columnist
The City of Poulsbo should put the ban on marijuana producers, processors, and retailers, to a vote of the people.
Voters in Poulsbo’s six precincts approved Initiative 502 to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana like alcohol; 51 percent approved, 47 percent opposed.
In 2014, the City Council initiated their ban with the pretense of forcing the state Legislature to share revenues with cities and counties for their part in implementing the new law — those concerns were resolved during the 2015 legislative session.
Continuing the ban serves to undermine the will of the majority; the fairest way to settle this matter is by a vote of the people in the 2015 general election.
In the five years that I have been a volunteer activist in drug policy reform, I have heard almost every opposition argument against legalizing cannabis. While I am sympathetic to all concerns, the majority of claims, in my experience, are not based in scientific fact.
Since 2012, two more states have legalized non-medical use of marijuana, and acceptance for medicinal uses of cannabis continues to grow. In order to move forward, all communities in Washington need to participate in ending prohibition on cannabis; to do otherwise, only serves to perpetuate the problems that prohibition brings.
We have a saying among drug policy reformers: “To support prohibition is to support organized crime!” Illegal markets are the creation of bans, and that is how children gain access to illegal drugs; because “drug dealers don’t ID.” Marijuana is already in our community, with, or without a ban. The whole point of legalizing cannabis is to legitimize it as we do with alcohol, so we can bring it out of the shadows, eradicate illegal markets, and deal with any residual problems in a responsible manner.
The City of Poulsbo will not qualify to receive tax revenues from cannabusinesses unless it actually sites such a business within city limits. Some city officials have suggested that projected revenues would be insignificant. Consider the bigger picture — job creation, and state funding for education and substance-abuse treatment programs, which will further help to address concerns.
As a single parent who resides in this community, I have the same goals as everyone else: to live, work, and raise my family in a safe environment. From all the research I have done, I have concluded that prohibition is the antithesis of that goal; it creates crime and corruption, and nothing good can come from maintaining a ban.
It is with these considerations, that I respectfully ask that the City of Poulsbo to either lift the ban on cannabusinesses, or put the question to the voters in the 2015 general election.
— Troy Barber is a Sensible Washington Steering Committee member and Kitsap County organizer, and former No on I-502 spokesperson.
