Seattle Mayor to Hold Meeting With Police - Washington State - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums

vta · 11-09-2010, 05:13 AM

Seattle Mayor to Hold Meeting With Police to Clarify Lowest Priority Marijuana Enforcement
By Cannabis Karri

Seattle Police on horses seem much more friendly than the assault rifle-wielding, break-down-your-door type.

Seattle, WA - This morning, Seattle’s Mayor Mike McGinn will sit down with top law-enforcement officials from King County to discuss they way that Seattle police are enforcing marijuana laws. Mayor McGinn has come out in support of legalizing cannabis and has said the recent police raid of a military vet who had only a small amount of marijuana shows just how inconsistent the laws are in the matter. On October 25th, a SWAT team burst through the apartment door of 50 year old Will Laudanski who is a legal medical marijuana patient. After breaking Mr. Laudanski’s door down, shoving him to the floor and ransacking his apartment they could only come up with two very small marijuana plants in his bedroom.

The officers, who had a search warrant, realized the tenant had a legitimate medical marijuana card and left without making an arrest. They later came back and fixed the man’s broken door. The Seattle police department later said that they were following city policy. Seattle Police Department spokesman Sean Whitcomb said that the officers in the case had no reason to consider Initiative 75, the 2003 measure that Seattle voters approved to make arresting and jailing adults for possession of personal amounts of marijuana the department’s lowest law-enforcement priority. He said that the Laudanski case wasn’t deemed a possession case.

Mayor McGinn would like more of a clarification on cases like these. While it is technically true that Mr. Laudanski was suspected of more than a small amount of marijuana possession, McGinn says that I-75 should work on a practical level and reflect more of the public’s changing attitude toward marijuana, He says the public intent of the initiative needs to influence how officials think about policies regarding marijuana enforcement.

The meeting today is to discuss better policies to help guide police. Joining the meeting today will be City Attorney Pete Holmes, who promised to stop prosecuting people for simple marijuana possession when he ran for office a year ago. Also attending will be police Chief John Diaz, Sheriff Sue Rahr, King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, and City Council member Nick Licata. McGinn has also asked Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel to review all marijuana investigations when officers are seeking a search warrant to give them greater scrutiny and determine whether there are other methods that police could use.

The matter is complicated because although they didn’t find illegal marijuana in the case of Will Laudanski, in the same week, officers found more than 600 mature plants and 70 pounds of packaged illegal marijuana in a home in Renton. Because of federal patient-privacy laws there isn’t a state database of medical marijuana users available to the police, something that advocates have long fought against out of fear of creating lists for federal prosecution. When investigating a suspected growing operation that could turn out to be large scale and for-profit, police are always well-armed due to officer safety issues. With no way to check to see if Will Laudanski was a medical marijuana patient, and no access to his power bill since power was included in his rent and could not be accessed by the unit, officers could only go on a complaint and the presence of the odor of marijuana coming from his apartment. Ian Goodhew, the deputy chief of staff to King County Prosector Dan Satterberg, said that police have the duty to investigate criminal activity. Sometimes they find criminal activity and sometimes they dont, but they need to do their jobs more effectively.

RollmeoneKenobi · 11-10-2010, 12:33 AM

Cops are going to fight this to death. (some cases literally!) Glad to see the Mayor taking to first sensible step and open the dialogue.

vta · 11-10-2010, 04:19 PM

Why did this get moved to The Dead Zone??

VIKINGtrich · 11-11-2010, 04:15 AM

Great story....really glad to hear this....to bad this is in "the Dead Zone".....people want to hear about this news event...

11-09-2010, 05:13 AM	#1
vta Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 4,292	Seattle Mayor to Hold Meeting With Police Seattle Mayor to Hold Meeting With Police to Clarify Lowest Priority Marijuana Enforcement By Cannabis Karri Seattle Police on horses seem much more friendly than the assault rifle-wielding, break-down-your-door type. Seattle, WA - This morning, Seattle’s Mayor Mike McGinn will sit down with top law-enforcement officials from King County to discuss they way that Seattle police are enforcing marijuana laws. Mayor McGinn has come out in support of legalizing cannabis and has said the recent police raid of a military vet who had only a small amount of marijuana shows just how inconsistent the laws are in the matter. On October 25th, a SWAT team burst through the apartment door of 50 year old Will Laudanski who is a legal medical marijuana patient. After breaking Mr. Laudanski’s door down, shoving him to the floor and ransacking his apartment they could only come up with two very small marijuana plants in his bedroom. The officers, who had a search warrant, realized the tenant had a legitimate medical marijuana card and left without making an arrest. They later came back and fixed the man’s broken door. The Seattle police department later said that they were following city policy. Seattle Police Department spokesman Sean Whitcomb said that the officers in the case had no reason to consider Initiative 75, the 2003 measure that Seattle voters approved to make arresting and jailing adults for possession of personal amounts of marijuana the department’s lowest law-enforcement priority. He said that the Laudanski case wasn’t deemed a possession case. Mayor McGinn would like more of a clarification on cases like these. While it is technically true that Mr. Laudanski was suspected of more than a small amount of marijuana possession, McGinn says that I-75 should work on a practical level and reflect more of the public’s changing attitude toward marijuana, He says the public intent of the initiative needs to influence how officials think about policies regarding marijuana enforcement. The meeting today is to discuss better policies to help guide police. Joining the meeting today will be City Attorney Pete Holmes, who promised to stop prosecuting people for simple marijuana possession when he ran for office a year ago. Also attending will be police Chief John Diaz, Sheriff Sue Rahr, King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, and City Council member Nick Licata. McGinn has also asked Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel to review all marijuana investigations when officers are seeking a search warrant to give them greater scrutiny and determine whether there are other methods that police could use. The matter is complicated because although they didn’t find illegal marijuana in the case of Will Laudanski, in the same week, officers found more than 600 mature plants and 70 pounds of packaged illegal marijuana in a home in Renton. Because of federal patient-privacy laws there isn’t a state database of medical marijuana users available to the police, something that advocates have long fought against out of fear of creating lists for federal prosecution. When investigating a suspected growing operation that could turn out to be large scale and for-profit, police are always well-armed due to officer safety issues. With no way to check to see if Will Laudanski was a medical marijuana patient, and no access to his power bill since power was included in his rent and could not be accessed by the unit, officers could only go on a complaint and the presence of the odor of marijuana coming from his apartment. Ian Goodhew, the deputy chief of staff to King County Prosector Dan Satterberg, said that police have the duty to investigate criminal activity. Sometimes they find criminal activity and sometimes they dont, but they need to do their jobs more effectively. __________________ "When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny." - Thomas Jefferson C'mon...You know you want to click this... American? Click here...
	Quote 3 members found this post helpful.

11-10-2010, 12:33 AM	#2
RollmeoneKenobi Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 819	Cops are going to fight this to death. (some cases literally!) Glad to see the Mayor taking to first sensible step and open the dialogue. __________________ "Make the most of the Hemp seed, and plant it everywhere." George Washington “Some of my finest hours have been spent on my back veranda, smoking hemp and observing as far as my eye can see.” – Thomas Jefferson Expendabilty: Kirk, Spock, Dr McCoy, and ensign Ricky go down to an alien planet. Guess which one isn't coming back!
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11-10-2010, 04:19 PM	#3
vta Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 4,292	Why did this get moved to The Dead Zone?? __________________ "When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny." - Thomas Jefferson C'mon...You know you want to click this... American? Click here...
	Quote

11-11-2010, 04:15 AM	#4
VIKINGtrich Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 573	Great story....really glad to hear this....to bad this is in "the Dead Zone".....people want to hear about this news event...
	Quote