Furious Seasons author Philip Dawdy co-authors and campaigns for I-1068, marijuana law reform

Many of us are readers of the mental health news blog, Furious Seasons, authored by investigative journalist, and former Seattle Weekly reporter, Philip Dawdy.

Dawdy's blog has been on a recent (and unofficial) hiatus, due to the extent of the time and nature of filing a ballot initiative, where Dawdy wrote in January:... "proposed initiative repealing the State of Washington's criminal penalties relating to the adult use, possession and cultivation."

Dawdy, has his work cut out for him, and Sensible Washington has their first batch of printed petitions, and volunteers are hitting the streets, and having meetings in attempt to acquire about 320,000 signatures by July 2, 2010.

"We have a window of opportunity given current societal changes and public discontent with marijuana laws to assist the public in understanding the need for reform and how it can be accomplished sensibly. It is sensible to prevent the State of Washington from wasting about $105 million a year—and possibly tens of millions of dollars more—in taxpayer funds during the depths of a recession. It is sensible to end criminal penalties for responsible adults. It is sensible to protect medical marijuana patients now. Arrests of patients are expanding and the ACLU of Washington has not been effective in passing legislation to protect them.

And it is highly sensible and desirable to promote a reasoned discussion on the efficacy of the war on drugs in a statewide context that will allow regular voters to be engaged instead of merely relying upon state legislators—many of whom have their own political agendas and refuse to end marijuana prohibition in this state." --Philip Dawdy,Campaign Director, Initiative I-1068 co-author

In response to the ACLU of Washington's drug policy director, Alison Holcomb's statement:

"The ACLU supports marijuana legalization and will continue to work toward that goal. However, we will not be supporting I-1068 because it does not provide a responsible regulatory system."

Continue reading the full article HERE

I-1068 is endorsed by former Chief of Police Norm Stamper:

"I thought I would reach out to you, let you know of my strong support for I-1068, and authorize use of my name (and, no doubt, that of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) if you think it would be helpful to the campaign.

Wishing you every success,
Norm Stamper
Seattle Chief of Police (Ret.)"

As it says on the Sensible Washington site:

"Because it’s time to end the war on marijuana in Washington State."
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If you live in the state of Washington and you are interested in signing a petition, or volunteering or just reading and learning about I-1068, then take a look at Sensible Washington, where you'll find a busy reporter campaigning for marijuana law reform. Good luck, Philip.