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The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

Extra Fizz: Legalizing Pot Leads State Budget Ideas. Gov. Says it’s a Legitimate Idea.

Politics, This Washington   July 30, 2010 at 9:12 am Josh Feit

Gov. Chris Gregoire has been holding a series of public forums to get input on the latest budget shortfall—a projected $3 billion gap in funding.

Legalizing pot tops the list on Gregoire’s online suggestion page (with 1164 votes), and according the web site “Toke of the Town,” the governor’s office is not dismissing the idea.

“It’s a legitimate idea,” said Gregoire spokeswoman Karina Shagren, who said the Governor is reading the list herself, as is Marty Brown, the director of the governor’s budget office. “But we’d like to see how the federal government would respond.”




  • Anc

    Here's an idea, instead of waiting for the Federal Government to decide what to do, grab your balls, pass it, and MAKE them challange it.

  • Jakers

    That's a good option until Costco decides it wants to sell it too and creates an initiative that basically strips the state of these new revenues.

  • http://www.joeszilagyi.com/ Joe Szilagyi

    If Costo or whatever business starts paying for absurd initiatives that say things like “Our business pays no taxes,” we'll see an end to the initiative system pretty quick.

  • Anc

    It's been how long since prohibition has been lifted until the State is being forced out of the liquor business?

    By the time pot gets around to that point, we'll be living in a moneyless society, or at least that is Jean Luc Picard says.

  • drshort

    The state doesn't need to be the retailer to generate revenue. In fact, there's probably more net revenue if they aren't. Those stores and the employees in them arent free.

  • Jakers

    Well if it sold by businesses and is taxed like everything else (simple sales tax), then their isn't much of a tax revenue advantage to simply legalizing because the black market (now already prevalent) won't be paying taxes on it and have less overhead than a business and so will be able to under price the legal market for it.

  • http://www.joeszilagyi.com/ Joe Szilagyi

    That assumes a whole lot of people wouldn't prefer the legal convenience of buying it from the corner grocery down the block, rather than risking arrest buying it off the dude you text for an order today or the guy standing on the corner.

  • Barleywine

    I was reading today about MDMA, or ecstasy.

    I has very few side-effects. Has very many benefits.
    But the US is a leader, pushing the UN, for classifying it as bad.

    And it goes for $4-5 a pop, but costs pennies to make.
    And it's make from sassafras root. Root beer. Sassafras tea.

    No wonder I can't buy this root for my own tea-making. Crap!
    It never was a cancer risk, was it?

    Was it?

  • Donolectic

    The state has typically not liked anything that lets people get out of theirbheads for a bit, except for booze which is so prevalent that they couldn't stop it.

    With that said, MDMA is also prevalent, just expensive and illegal too. Such silliness.

  • Rossb

    Knowing what the feds will do is important, but this should be done, either way. If the feds say they will continue to enforce the federal law, then the state can say “fine, enforce it”. We empty the prisons of otherwise innocent pot offenders (they can go to federal prison) and stop spending money enforcing a stupid law. If the feds say they won't enforce the federal law, then we've got some work to do. We'll have to setup a regulatory agency (or extend existing ones) and set tax levels, etc. The plus side will be a huge revenue stream, which will more than make up for the added regulatory cost.

  • Rossb

    There are plenty of questions about the possible health problems of MDMA. I'm not saying MDMA should be illegal, but suggesting it is as benign as Cannabis is really stretching it.