Goodman Runs For Congress On Cannabis Legalization Platform

Photo: KOMO News

Congressional candidate Roger Goodman, left, advocates the legalization of marijuana and protecting the planet.

​What if we could elect a real, live drug policy reformerto Congress? A candidate who has that background — and unabashedly advocates the legalization of cannabis nationwide — is running for the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington state, and he has an excellent chance to win.

Washington state Rep. Roger Goodman had in February initially announced he would run in the 8th District against Rep. Dave Reichert, a right-wing Republican, but now that Rep. Jay Inslee is vacating his seat in the House to run for Governor, Goodman will be running for that open seat in the reliably liberal 1st District where he lives, the candidate told Toke of the Town in an exclusive interview Friday afternoon.

“My number one priority is planetary health,” Goodman told me. “We need to pay attention to that, and we need to foster justice in our society.

“Cannabis policy reform is actually a part of both of those major issues, and my training as a lawyer, an environmentalist, a former Congressional chief of staff, a state agency director, and now as a legislator and reformer for years, qualifies me not just on cannabis reform but on qualify of life issues and on true progressive leadership,” he said.

“Drug policy so strategically connects to other policies, and people don’t realize it,” Goodman said. “Safe streets, good education, reasonable taxes…

Photo: Roger Goodman For Congress

Roger Goodman: “We need to pay attention to planetary health”

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“Nationwide, about 7 or 8 billion dollars is spent just on marijuana enforcement,” he told me. “That money could certainly be better used. But I don’t stress the savings; I’m really more concerned about public safety, children and families.

“Our marijuana policies allow illegal markets to deliver an unregulated product, and that’s just not safe, for patients or for anyone else who might want to use it,” Goodman said. “My primary concern is public safety, health care, and wellness.

“And yes, let’s make some money from this,” Goodman said. “Let’s tax it and use some of that money for health care.”

Roger’s Got A Killer Resumé

Rep. Goodman isn’t just frontin’ when he talks about drug policy reform. The man served as the executive director of the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission in the late 1990s and was elected to the National Association of Sentencing Commissions. While with the state commission, he published reports on prison capacity and sentencing policy, helped increased the availability of drug treatment in prisons, and guided 14 other sentencing-related bills through the Washington Legislature.

Photo: Pete Kuhns/Seattle Weekly

Rep. Roger Goodman shows off a stash of his drug of choice: chocolate.

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“In Washington state, we put about 8,000 people in cages every year who either should just be left alone, or should be receiving mental health or substance abuse treatment,” Goodman said. “We have a lot of progress that needs to be made.”

Goodman is very acquainted with our drug policies, and the fact that they need fixing. He next led the King County Bar Association’s Drug Policy Project, which coordinated a groundbreaking initiative to critically look at drug laws and promote cheaper, more effective, and more humane policies. In doing so, Goodman helped create a coalition of more than 20 professional and civic organizations that has spurred the Legislature to reduce sentences for drug offenders and shift funding away from incarceration and into drug treatment.

Medical Marijuana In Crisis

A state representative since 2008, Goodman cosponsored a marijuana legalization bill in the just-completed session of the Legislature, and also supported a bill which would have explicitly legalized dispensaries in Washington state. That bill, SB 5073, passed both houses of the Legislature, but in a stunning failure of leadership, hen-hearted Gov. Christine Gregoire used her line-item veto to eviscerate the measure.

Photo: The Stranger

Rep. Roger Goodman: “We’ve driven patients back to the streets. Do we want the drug dealer model, or do we want the safe access point model?”

​”Our medical marijuana program is in crisis right now,” Goodman told Toke of the Town. “It’s worse than it was before the Governor partially vetoed the bill. What was left over made it worse.”

“We’ve now driven patients back to the streets,” Goodman said. “Do we want the drug dealer model, or do we want the safe access point model?

“There’s a lot of politics going on behind the scenes, and extraneous political interests,” Goodman acknowledged. “It’s not a pure thing.”

Calling state Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, sponsor of SB 5073, “the undisputed champion on this issue,” Goodman said safe access for medical marijuana patients “a very important thing we have to get done.”

“I do fear that patients will have problems getting access safely, because dispensaries as we now understand them will be actually prohibited, and the limit of one provider to one patient and the 15-day waiting period are going to hamper access,” he said.

At the same time, Goodman is holding out hope that patients in the Seattle area, at least, can preserve some sort of safe access. “King County is going to look at various zoning ordinances that came out of this bill,” he told me.

Goodman is backing a new bill, HB 2118, which he says is “from the patient’s perspective.” According to the legislator, it allows for dispensaries to get business licenses and allows localities to zone to specifically allow for the shops.

Graphic: Roger Goodman For Congress

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“It’s a starting point,” he told me, “but it’s what the patients would like. There’s no registry, and there’s no need for a registry. If you have the authentic documentation, that’s all you need.

“This is about health care, not crime,” Goodman said. “I actually have a very good relationship with law enforcement. I legislated against domestic violence and helped get drunk drivers off the road.”

Speaking of impaired driving, Roger Goodman is one of the few politicians I have ever heard admit he was wrong. He incurred the wrath of many marijuana activists when he sponsored a DUI marijuana bill in the Legislature; his bill would have set a THC blood limit of 8 ng/ml as the definition of being impaired by cannabis.

But after hearing from a lot of constituents and checking out the available information, Goodman realized there are no definitive answers showing that 8 ng/ml or any other particular cut-off level for blood THC is necessarily indicative of impairment.

“When I learned there was no good science on the subject, I actually withdrew that proposal, and I helped Colorado defeat that same marijuana DUI proposal,” Goodman told me.

‘Some Concerns’ With New Approach Washington

Which brings us to New Approach Washington, a legalization initiative announced just this week which is backed by some major names including former U.S. Attorney John McKay, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes and travel writer Rick Steves.

The language of that measure specifies the low limit of 5 ng/ml as the cutoff point for defining cannabis impairment while driving. That level would effectively outlaw any driving, ever, for many medical marijuana patients who must use large amounts of cannabis every day, because they’d show up over the limit even when completely unimpaired.

Photo: Roger Goodman For Congress

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Another big concern for marijuana activists in the New Approach Washington measure’s language is the fact that while it would allow adults to buy pot at state-run stores, it still wouldn’t allow home cultivation of recreational cannabis.

“I’ve heard quite a number of concerns from people who’ve called me about the nanogram limit for driving, and about the fact there’s nothing about home growing,” he told me.

“I will be ready to receive it enthusiastically in the Legislature, anticipating the ability to amend it,” Goodman said. “The problem is if the Legislature does not amend it, the way it is drafted today, it would appear on the ballot in November 2012. There are some concerns, and we need to tweak it or re-draft the language quite soon.

“The other thing is this home growing,” Goodman said. “People need to be able to produce and consume, and have non-commercial gift exchanges perhaps of small amounts.”

But even in its imperfect form, the New Approach Washington initiative represents enormous progress, according to Goodman. “I have to say this is a huge step where we have a bipartisan group of prominent people putting it forward,” he told me. “I’ll do what I can to move it through the Legislature.”

Tipping The Balance, $4.20 At A Time

At any pivotal point in our nation’s history — and look around you, man, we’re in one of those — one well-informed politician can help tip the balance back towards sanity when it comes to drug policy, environmental policy, public safety, and health care, and Goodman said he wants to be a part of that.

Graphic: CTI

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The presence of a man like Roger Goodman in Congress could make a major difference going forward as our nation discovers the way to a saner approach on marijuana.

“We’re so close to the tipping point,” Goodman told me. “I want to offer some experienced leadership in drug policy reform; to join Jared Polis, Barney Frank and others who are making a difference on the Hill.

“Getting me there will get us all one step closer to loosening the federal Controlled Substances Act, for the health, welfare and safety of the people,” Goodman said.

“The number one thing I need at the moment is for people to go to goodmanforcongress.com and help elect me,” Goodman said.

“I know that people are mostly, including myself here, of very modest means,” he said. “I’m not asking for a lot of money. But I do need $4.20 from as many people as possible by next week. We’re doing well; we’ve reached our target for the first quarter and we are being taken very seriously.”

Summing It Up

I have to tell you, it’s a blast to speak with a politician who seems to be more concerned about the people and the environment than about the corporations. Goodman is definitely that guy.

“We need to pay attention to planetary health,” Goodman told me. “We need to foster justice in our society.

“When I was a Congressional staffer, I had to be quote-unquote ‘professional,’ ” Goodman said. “Now I can speak the truth, and it’s just so refreshing — and people can sense that.

“That’s given me the inner strength to lead,” Goodman said. “Simply to lead.”

To learn more about the Roger Goodman for Congress campaign, or to contribute, visit http://goodmanforcongress.com/. You can also “Like” the Roger Goodman For Congress Facebook page

Former U.S. Attorney Sponsors Marijuana Legalization Drive

Photo: Mike Siegel/Seattle Times

Former U.S. Attorney John McKay is sponsoring a drive to legalize marijuana for adults in Washington state.

​ Marc Emery’s Prosecutor Switches Sides; Joins ACLU, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, and TV Host Rick Steves in Backing Inititiave

The former U.S. Attorney for Seattle who prosecuted “Prince of Pot” Marc Emery said Tuesday that he is sponsoring an initiative to legalize and tax marijuana in Washington state. John McKay, who spent five years enforcing federal drug laws, said he hoped the measure would help “shame Congress” into ending cannabis prohibition nationwide.

McKay, who was fired by the Bush Administration in early 2007, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the laws criminalizing marijuana are destructive because they create a black market fueling international drug cartels and crime rings, reports Gene Johnson.

“That’s what drives my concern: The black market fuels the cartels, and that’s what allows them to buy the guns they use to kill people,” McKay told the AP. “A lot of Americans smoke pot and they’re willing to pay for it. I think prohibition is a dumb policy, and there are a lot of line federal prosecutors who share the view that the policy is suspect.”

Photo: WeedCorner.com

Travel host Rick Steves joints former U.S. Attorney John McKay in backing the legalization initiative.

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McKay is joined by Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, TV travel host/writer and marijuana activist Rick Steves, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington in backing an initiative to the Legislature that would regulate the recreational use of cannabis similarly to how the state treats alcohol.

The measure would legalize marijuana for people over 21, authorize the state Liquor Control Board to regulate and tax it for sale in “standalone stores” (an important point to many cannabis consumers who don’t want to frequent liquor stores), and extend driving-under-the-influence laws to marijuana, with blood tests to determine how much of pot’s active ingredient is in a driver’s blood (a possibly troublesome point, since THC blood levels don’t always correlate with impairment, especially with experienced and medicinal users).

Activists would have until the end of 2011 to gather more than 240,000 signatures to get the initiative before the Legislature. Lawmakers could, at that point, either approve it, or allow it to go to the ballot (the more likely outcome).

According to City Attorney Holmes, taxing marijuana would bring the state at least $215 million a year.

McKay told the AP that he had long considered marijuana prohibition a failed policy, but that as U.S. Attorney his job was to enforce federal law, and he “had no problem” doing so. One of the most famous defendants McKay prosecuted was Marc Emery, who fought extradition to the United States after his 2005 arrest, but ended up getting five years in federal prison for selling marijuana seeds to U.S. residents.

“This bill might not be perfect, but it’s a good step forward,” McKay said. “I think it will eventually shame Congress into action.”

Another legalization initiative, I-1149, is still gathering signatures in hopes of making the ballot this November, but some reports are that their all-volunteer effort is badly short of its signature goal.

- http://www.tokeofthetown.com

Reps. Frank, Polis to DOJ; Leave Medical Marijuana To States!

Photo: Just Out

According to Reps. Jared Polis (left) and Barney Frank, the Obama Administration should lay off medical marijuana patients and providers in states where medicinal cannabis is legal.

​Two Democratic Congressmen want to know exactly where the federal government stands on medical cannabis. Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) are urging the Obama Administration this week to repeat earlier vows to leave the enforcement of medical marijuana laws up to the states.

The Congressmen want Attorney General Eric Holder to renew his commitment to a 2009 Department of Justice (DOJ) memorandum — known as the Ogden Memo — which said the agency wouldn’t target medical marijuana patients and providers who are in compliance with their state laws, reports Mike Lillis at The Hill.

“Recent actions by United States Attorneys across the country have prompted states to deny patients safe and reliable access to their medicine,” Frank and Polis wrote in a June 20 letter to Holder.

The letter was a result of the lawmakers’ concerns that recent communications from the DOJ and from state and local attorneys indicate the agency is backtracking on the Ogden Memo in the face of conservative criticism that the Obama Administration has somehow been “too lenient” in the “War On Drugs” by allowing sick people to use the medicine recommended by their doctors.

For instance, in a February letter to the city attorney of Oakland, California, the DOJ vowed it “will enforce the [Controlled Substances Act] vigorously against individuals and organizations that participate in unlawful manufacturing and distribution activity involving marijuana, even if such activities are permitted under state law.”

Letters from U.S. Attorneys have already resulted in several states killing of delaying implementation of medical marijuana laws

One such letter resulted in the governor of Washington almost entirely vetoing a bill which would have legalized marijuana dispensaries in that state, leaving many patients without safe access. Meanwhile, states including Arizona and Rhode Island reacted to threatening letters from their U.S. Attorneys be delaying implementation of state-licensed medical cannabis dispensaries.

There are two primary reasons why the DOJ should leave the medical marijuana issue to states, according to Frank and Polis: First, the agency has limited resources, which they argue should go toward prosecuting more serious crimes (the same argument the DOJ offered in the Ogden Memo); and second, targeting the medical marijuana industry “harms the people whose major goal is to seek relief from pain wholly caused by illness.”

“There are now hundreds of thousands of medical marijuana patients in states where the medication is legal,” Frank and Polis wrote. “These patients will either purchase medical marijuana safely at state-regulated entities or seek it through unregulated channels: in the criminal market or by growing it themselves.”

Earlier this month, Holder announced that he’ll “soon” be “clarifying” the federal agency’s position on medical marijuana.

Former President Carter Urges Marijuana Legalization

Photo: Jimmy Carter Library & Museum

Former President Jimmy Carter: “Maybe the increased tax burden on wealthy citizens necessary to pay for the war on drugs will help bring about a reform of America’s drug policies”

​In a new op-ed published in The New York Timesto coincide with Friday’s 40th anniversary of President Nixon declaring “War On Drugs,” former President Jimmy Carter supports recent recommendations for countries around the world to try “models of legal regulation of drugs … that are designed to undermine the power of organized crime and safeguard the health and security of their citizens.”

In the New York Times op-ed, President Carter called the recommendations of the Global Commission on Drug Policy “courageous and profoundly important.”

“In a message to Congress in 1977, I said the country should decriminalize the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, with a full program of treatment for addicts,” Carter wrote. “I also cautioned against filling our prisons with young people who were no threat to society, and summarized by saying: ‘Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself.’ “

“Those ideas were widely accepted at the time,” Carter wrote. “But in the 1980s President Ronald Reagan and Congress began to shift from balanced drug policies, including the treatment and rehabilitation of addicts, toward futile efforts to control drug imports from foreign countries.”

“One result has been a terrible escalation in drug-related violence, corruption and gross violations of human rights in a growing number of Latin American countries,” Carter wrote.

“Maybe the increased tax burden on wealthy citizens necessary to pay for the war on drugs will help bring about a reform of America’s drug policies,” Carter wrote. “At least the recommendations of the Global Commission will give some cover to political leaders who wish to do what is right.”

Patient Advocates Back 3 Medical Marijuana Bills in Congress

Graphic: Rebels With Just Cause Award

Steph Sherer, ASA: “This kind of policy shift is a no-brainer and should garner the bipartisan support of Congress”

Three medical marijuana bills introduced in Congress on Wednesday have the support of patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA). The most significant of the bills is one introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), which reclassifies marijuana from its current federal status as a dangerous drug with no medical value.

Another bill, introduced by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), will allow banks and other financial institutions to provide services to medical marijuana businesses without being subject to “suspicious activity” reporting requirements.

The third bill, introduced by Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (D-CA), changes the federal tax code “to allow a deduction for expenses in connection with the trade or business of selling marijuana intended for patients for medical purposes pursuant to State law.”

Photo: Étienne Fontan/Eye Times Photography

Steph Sherer, ASA: “We are urging passage of the Frank bill in order to take advantage of all points of leverage”

​ “All of these bills will have a positive effect on hundreds of thousands of Americans and only a negligible impact on the rest of the country,” said Steph Sherer, executive director of ASA, a medical marijuana advocacy group. “This kind of policy shift is a no-brainer and should garner the bipartisan support of Congress.”

To shore up support for these and other local and state medical marijuana bills, ASA is launching a new advocacy program.

ASA is equipping patient advocates with new tools to lobby state, local and federal governments. The group on Wednesday unveiled a new program establishing a “Medical Cannabis Think Tank” to provide activists the support they need to analyze pending or proposed legislation and to lobby for the best laws possible.

To support the lobbying effort, ASA also unveiled its new “Online Training Center,” with more than four hours of educational streaming video and more than 400 pages of instruction manuals and worksheets.

ASA’s program also includes an improved “Raid Response Center” to better prepare for aggressive federal interference.

As part of the “Sick and Tired” campaign, ASA and others filed a writ Monday in the D.C. Circuit to compel the federal government to answer a nine-year-old petition to reclassify cannabis. The Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis (CRC) argued in the writ that the government has unreasonably delayed an answer to the petition in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act.

“The Drug Enforcement Administration has the opportunity right now to address the needs of patients across the country by reclassifying cannabis,” Sherer said. “However, since Congress can also reclassify cannabis, we are urging passage of the Frank bill in order to take advantage of all points of leverage.”

If passed, the Frank will would not only recognize marijuana’s medical value, but also provide a medical necessity defense in federal court, a right not currently afforded to patients and caregivers who are in compliance with their local and state laws.

The Frank bill would also usher forth greater research into the therapeutic properties of cannabis and create incentives for the development of new cannabis-based medication.

Advocates hope the Polis bill, if passed, will end the current ban on banking services for medical marijuana businesses by financial institutions like Wells Fargo, CitiCorp and Bank of America.

The Stark bill has the potential to end dozens of medical marijuana dispensary audits by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) currently taking place, and settle once and for all whether the IRS can demand tax on gross or just net proceeds.

More Information

Rescheduling bill (Frank) [PDF]

Banking bill (Polis) [PDF]

IRS bill (Stark) [PDF]

ASA Think Tank

ASA Online Training Center

ASA Raid Response Center