Initiative seeks Kent vote to make marijuana offenses lowest police priority

City of Kent voters might decide this fall whether marijuana offenses should receive the lowest enforcement priority by Kent Police.

Sensible Washington, a group that supports marijuana legalization, filed an initiative Wednesday with the city to “make the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of non-violent marijuana offenses, where the marijuana was intended for adult personal use, the lowest law enforcement priority.”

The group filed similar initiatives this week in Olympia, Bremerton, Everett, Bellingham and Spokane. Voters in Seattle passed a low-enforcement of marijuana offenses measure in 2003. Tacoma voters passed similar legislation last year.

“With lowest priority (and federal non-cooperation) initiatives now filed, we feel that (Wednesday) was a good day for the cannabis reform community here in Washington,” said Sensible Washington backers on their Facebook page.

The Kent City Attorney’s Office will review the initiative and has 14 days from the filing date to formulate an impartial statement that describes the purpose of the initiative, said Pat Fitzpatrick, deputy city attorney, during a phone interview.

“We need to determine if it’s an appropriate exercise for the initiative process,” Fitzpatick said. “It’s a complicated matter and we have no determination yet.”

Fitzpatrick said language in the initiative about the city not cooperating with federal authorities makes the measure complicated.

The initiative states:

“The city of Kent, and its police department, and city attorney, shall not cooperate with the federal government in the enforcement of its laws concerning marijuana; and no funds shall be expended in any manner, for cooperation in enforcement of federal marijuana laws by local authorities.”

City attorneys will research the legality of that statement.

“We’ve never been presented with anything remotely like that,” Fitzpatrick said. “We’re not sure it’s legal. We need to look into that to see if it’s appropriate to the legislative process.”

Fitzpatrick said the city attorney’s office will review the measure just as it does with any proposed law.

“One of our jobs is to ensure any law, whether its from the City Council or by initiative, to be lawful,” he said.

If city attorneys decide the initiative meets all requirements, it goes back to the proponents to start to collect signatures of registered voters to get the measure on the ballot.

Initiative backers would have 90 days to gather the necessary signatures of registered voters, which is expected to be about 7,350 signatures. The law requires that the initiative have signatures of 15 percent of the number of registered voters who voted in the last general election, Fitzpatrick said.

If the city clerk determines enough valid signatures were collected, the council has 20 days to call for an election. The measure then must go to voters within 30 to 60 days.

If everything falls into place along that timeline, voters could be deciding at a special election this fall or in the November general election about whether to approve the initiative to make marijuana offenses the lowest law enforcement priority.

Voters statewide in November will vote on Initiative 502, which would create a system of state-licensed growers, processors and stores with a 25 percent excise tax at each stage. Anyone 21 and older could buy up to an ounce of dried marijuana; one pound of a solid product, such as brownies, that has marijuana; or 72 ounces of marijuana-infused liquids.

The Sensible Washington group states on its website that Initiative 502 does not go far enough because true legalization would mean the right to make your own marijuana at home, the right to share it with friends and the right to purchase as much as you want.

Sensible Washington filed the following initiative with Kent:

“WHEREAS, our city’s taxpayers are needlessly burdened by the substantial cost of investigating, arresting, prosecuting, and jailing people for charges involving marijuana;

WHEREAS, the federal government has violated the will of Washington State voters by obstructing patient access to medical marijuana;

WHEREAS, our city understands the need to refocus limited police resources to violent and more serious crimes — to benefit public safety — rather than the prosecution of non-violent individuals for charges involving marijuana;

Be it ordained by the voters in the city of Kent that:

A new ordinance is adopted, and a new section added, to chapter (number) of the Kent Municipal Code.

Subject: This act deals with the implementation of policy relating to law enforcement. This act is to be known as The Marijuana Reform Act of 2012.

Text: The Kent Police department and the City Attorney’s office shall make the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of non-violent marijuana offenses, where the marijuana was intended for adult personal use, the lowest law enforcement priority. Consistent with this policy, the city of Kent, and its police department, and city attorney, shall not cooperate with the federal government in the enforcement of its laws concerning marijuana; and no funds shall be expended in any manner, for cooperation in enforcement of federal marijuana laws by local authorities.

Severability: If any provision of this ordinance or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this ordinance, or the application of the terms and provisions to other persons, or circumstances, shall not be affected.

Interpretation: This act is to be liberally construed to effectuate the defined intent of the voters.”