Gay marriage, marijuana measures take effect Thursday

  • By Jerry Cornfield and Sharon Salyer Herald Writers
  • Saturday, December 1, 2012 3:48pm
  • Local NewsLocal news

Washington breaks ground on two historic fronts this week when it becomes legal in this state for same-sex couples to marry and adults to smoke marijuana in their homes.

When voters passed Initiative 502, they opened the door for legal possession of small amounts of marijuana starting Thursday and establishment of a full-blown, state-licensed marijuana industry by 2014.

And in approving Referendum 74, voters upheld a law allowing marriage of same-sex couples that the Legislature adopted and Gov. Chris Gregoire signed earlier this year. Couples can obtain marriage licenses starting Thursday.

Grethe Cammermeyer and Diane Divelbess of Coupeville intend to be among the first applying for a marriage certificate when the Island County Auditor’s Office opens that day.

Cammermeyer, a nurse who served in the Vietnam War, earned the rank of colonel in the Washington National Guard. She earned national attention after her discharge in 1992 because of her sexual orientation. She successfully sued to overturn the ban on gays and lesbians in the military and earned reinstatement in 1994.

She and her partner, who have been together for 25 years, are planning a private wedding in their hometown Sunday.

“That piece of paper and that psychological effect of being validated by societal standards are very exciting,” Cammermeyer said.

Island County Auditor Sheilah Crider said she doesn’t foresee too long a line when her office opens at 8 a.m., one hour earlier than normal.

Snohomish County Auditor Carolyn Weikel isn’t sure what to expect when her office opens at 9 a.m., which is the regular time.

On a normal day, her staff processes 15 to 20 requests for marriage licenses. With a large demand expected in King County — licenses there will be made available starting at midnight — some residents may drive to Everett instead.

“I don’t think anything would surprise me,” Weikel said. “We’re prepared for a crowd. We just hope it is as a festive and warm environment for all.”

The application fee is $56 in Island County, $64 in Snohomish and King counties, and the acceptable methods of payment vary by county. The license becomes valid 72 hours after the application is filed and is valid for 60 days.

As gay and lesbian couples are signing up for marriage certificates, other Washington adults may be privately celebrating the historic and precedent-setting change in the state’s attitude toward dope.

The decades-long era of marijuana prohibition is ending, as anyone 21 years or older will be able to legally possess and use small amounts of pot.

Unlike the state’s current medical marijuana law, no medical conditions are required.

But here’s the catch: It’s still not legal to buy or grow, at least not for another year.

The delay was created by the two-step legalization process spelled out in the initiative approved by the state’s voters last month.

Parts of the new law go into effect Thursday: decriminalizing adult possession of an ounce or less of marijuana, prohibiting use of marijuana in public settings and setting blood concentration limits for impaired driving from marijuana.

It will be at least another year before adults can go into a store, plunk down about $336 and walk out with a one-ounce baggie of dope.

That’s because the initiative gives the state a year to set up a system of licensing and taxing marijuana producers, distributors and retailers.

The public shouldn’t expect to see a state-licensed store selling marijuana before 2014, according to Sharon Foster, chairwoman of the three-member Liquor Control Board, which oversees the state agency responsible for enforcing the new law.

And that brings us to the “Big If”: If the federal government doesn’t step in to try to block the state-regulated system of selling marijuana from going into effect.

Federal law prohibits the distribution, possession or manufacture of marijuana. Currently the federal government classifies marijuana as a schedule 1 drug, in the same category with cocaine and heroin.

The state’s Liquor Control Board has begun preliminary work on implementing the law and is in contact with state officials in Colorado, which passed a similar marijuana legalization law, said Mikhail Carpenter, an agency spokesman.

Some law enforcement officials said they worry that with just parts of the law going into effect this week, it could create confusion about what’s allowed and what’s not.

“The cart’s ahead of the horse,” said Pat Slack, commander of the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force. “Why would you give the public an opportunity to possess something that’s a crime to obtain?”

The new law also bans marijuana smoking in public, despite some widely publicized examples in Seattle of people lighting up on election night in celebration of the initiative’s passage.

“It can’t be in public view,” Slack said. “You can’t stand in your own yard and smoke marijuana. You can’t go out on your porch and smoke marijuana. You can’t go out 25 feet from the door of your local bar.”

Violators could face a fine of $103 if they’re over 21 and have less than an ounce of marijuana, Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Roe said.

Roe said he wants to talk with local police chiefs, as well as fellow prosecutors from across the state during a meeting this week in Seattle, about what to do with current cases in Snohomish County involving prosecution of small amounts of marijuana.

Of the 17,000 cases handled by his office this year, only 40 pending cases involve possession of small amounts of marijuana, a misdemeanor charge, Roe said.

“For some time, we’ve had diversion program,” Roe said. “They take a class. We don’t charge them with a crime.”

Everett hasn’t updated its ordinances to include a fine for public pot smoking, said Aaron Snell, spokesman for the Everett Police Department. If the department gets a complaint about pot smoking that can be seen by the public, an officer will respond, he said.

Just as officers don’t stop every car they see speeding, “I would be surprised if every time we saw marijuana in public, it would be seized,” Snell said.

Legalizing recreational use of marijuana is a historic move by voters, said Todd Donovan, a professor of political science at Western Washington University.

But until the federal government indicates whether it will challenge the state’s legalization efforts, “it’s still a waiting game,” he said.

Although Washington voters have taken on issues ranging from physician-assisted suicide to various tax measures in the past, “this is kind of out there on its own,” he said.

“It would be up there and maybe have more impact on setting the tone of future policy changes than most things I can think of that voters decided by the ballot,” he said. “This is taking on the federal government and a century of drug policy at the same time.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.