Here’s a head-scratcher: Where did all the weed supporters go?
Published 9:30 am Friday, April 1, 2016
Where are all of the people who supposedly voted in favor of legalizing marijuana in the Evergreen State?
Initiative 502 to legalize the recreational use of marijuana was passed in November, 2012, by a majority of voters in Washington, in King County and even in the Snoqualmie Valley. Statewide, the vote was by almost 56 percent in favor. Nearly all voting precincts in the Valley had a 50 percent or greater yes vote on the measure; only three precincts counted more votes against the initiative than for it.
So, since majority rules, marijuana was voted in.
Then, all of legalized marijuana’s supporters apparently moved to Seattle. That’s the best explanation I can think of for what’s happened since our elected officials have attempted to implement what seemed to be “the will of the people.” Unless all those people who were in favor of it hadn’t really thought it through.
Instead of hearing from a 50-to-67 percent majority of people in favor of legalized marijuana, local officials at the multiple hearings I sat through were hearing, with few exceptions, from the opponents.
Maybe 64 percent of Snoqualmie and 58 percent of North Bend voted marijuana in 2012, but nearly 100 percent of Snoqualmie and maybe 50 percent of North Bend stood against it starting in 2014 when the possibility of pot shops in town started to become a reality.
Some cities, like North Bend and Carnation, bit the bullet and found places within their borders that would be allowed to accommodate the businesses. It wasn’t fun or easy at the time, and neither city has yet to see any businesses open up — or the tax revenues that could eventually come from them.
Snoqualmie and Duvall postponed their actions for a while; Snoqualmie officials expressly stated that they were waiting for the outcome of actions taken by other cities attempting to ban marijuana businesses outright.
The ban has turned out to be legally sound, it seems.
Still, I’m not so sure it was the right course of action.
No, I’m not advocating for marijuana sales on every corner, but I do think that if people vote for something, especially if it’s something they want, but just not in their own cities, they should get it, and learn to deal with the consequences.
