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Jim Seida / NBC News
Garth Carroll, who also goes by the name of "Professor Gizmo," smokes what he describes as "good, greenhouse organic herb" at the base of the Space Needle in Seattle just before midnight on Wednesday, Dec. 5. Carroll is a medical marijuana patient and marijuana activist in Seattle.
About a hundred pot smokers gathered in the cold at Seattle's City Center on Wednesday night to celebrate the legalization of the possession of marijuana in Washington state. The law, which took effect at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6, does not allow marijuana to be smoked in public, but you wouldn't know it by watching the crowd. As the clock stuck midnight, cheers erupted, followed by lighters igniting pipes and joints.
Jim Seida / NBC News
Dustin, left and Paul, both from Puyallup, Wash., and both of whom wouldn't give their last name, smoke marijuana beneath the Space Needle shortly after midnight on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, in Seattle, Wash. Dustin and Paul were two of about 100 pot smokers gathered in Seattle's City Center to celebrate the legalization of the possession of marijuana.
Even though it's still illegal to smoke marijuana in public in Washington, there was no sign of police presence in the smokey crowd. The Seattle Police Department themselves have officially told the public that "...minor marijuana possession has been the lowest enforcement priority for the Seattle Police Department since Seattle voters passed Initiative 75 in 2003." They answer the public's marijuana-related FAQs in their somewhat humorous online guide called "Marijwhatnow? A guide to Legal Marijuana Use In Seattle."
Jim Seida / NBC News
"It's too good to be just for the young," said 67-year-old Pat Edmonson about the marijuana cigarette she smoked just after midnight on Thursday, Dec. 6, in Seattle. Edmonson, of Whidbey Island, Wash., was in Seattle with her daughter to celebrate the legalization of the possession of marijuana.
Seattle police acknowledge that while it's now legal in the state of Washington to possess marijuana, it's still against federal law. For more on federal laws still in effect, check out the Department of Justice statement warning that was issued.
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Look at the "quality" of the folks smoking last night. LOL Go for it and have fun!
@Narait - and look at you judging others based solely on their appearance. I'd say that, ironically, if anything, you've illustrated your "quality".
Thats what people look like in Seattle. lol......right on, jbird
Yeah....if only everyone looked like they just stepped out of a Young Republicans meeting complete with pearly white teeth and a broom stick up their butts, I'd sure feel better about the future of America.
/sarcasm off
Don't judge a book by it's cover... or an event of about a hundred people by 3 pictures
NARAIT just what is it about the looks of those people that you don't like? Is it that some of them are old ? You will be there yourself someday, Is it that they are not wearing expensive clothing? Most of the world is not rich. Is it that they are not supermodels ? because I would be surprised if you were, you should really get out more often because they looked just like ordinary people to me.
I wasn't judging anyone, I was actually being sarcastic but obviously you have already judged me.
That's good to know, NARAIT.
I think people are a little touchy because smoking pot does come with a less than stellar stereotype.
Myself, I'm 37 and smoke. I'm also a business owner who pays family healthcare for all of my employees (about 36) and have for years. I also live and own a modest, but very tidy home, do my own landscaping, give to charity, pay my taxes, spend quality time with my grandparents, parents, siblings, nephews, etc...
Most people are surprised when they find out I smoke on the weekends.
Just wait for the big shoe to fall, your federalis big brother. remember the big government that y'all so love. It is still a violation of federal law and it would be so funny if the DOJ moved in to close up the shop. They have room at Gitmo for y'all.
Imagine that.....people not being jailed and having their lives ruined because they smoked marijuana. What will all the extra judges, lawyers, bail bondsmen, etc do with their time since they can't profit from the misery they caused about pot.
I live in Spokane Wa and I voted for the legalizaton of pot, I am just wondering how they are goingto do the drug testing, per say the kid that works over at the 7eleven smokes before he goes to work and his boss smells it on him, hmmm can he be fired?? Just like if you have a drink before you go to work you can be fired... Interesting.. I voted for it because maybe our government can tax it like they do everything else and maybe put the money to good use like our roads, schools etc..
Guess it was your judging "quote marks" that made people judge you!
"maybe put the money to good use like our roads, schools etc.."
Sad, sad little stoned dreamer. They'll use the money like they use most of the rest of the money, to pay themselves and to pay the losers. Chumps never learn.
Vanderleun, would you please describe who the "losers" are?
Potsmoker, young professional, elite business school.
Some of us wear Brioni suits.
Here we go....might as well accelerate __________— (you may fill in the blank).
Pot is now legal.
The Mayans were right.
2012 is truly THE END OF THE WORLD.
End of an oppressive, corrupt world maybe.
I smoked pot once.
It made me want to rape and kill.
LOL, an obvious case of reefer madness :-)
Haha Nevada - I smoke often & all it makes me want to do is buckle down on my seismology curricula (for my doctorate) & eat some Doritos. Maybe order in for some Chinese food.
OMG...lighten up!! And put down that wiskey
The President should use an executive order to pardon all Americans with a possession charge. This would cement his great legacy.
Now there's a seriously good idea. A generation from now he'd be remembered as a compassionate visionary.
Years from now, history students would read about two Rock 'n Roll Presidents in numbers 42 & 44, with a violent drunken bafoon in between.
Now there's a seriously good idea. A generation from now he'd be remembered as a compassionate visionary.
Years from now, history students would read about two Rock 'n Roll Presidents in numbers 42 & 44, with a violent drunken bafoon in between.
Obama needs to take on more bedmates in my opinion. It seems there's so many people out there willing to get on their knees and/or take it up the @$$ for/from him. I'm sure that'd cement his legacy too.
Maybe he can also bail out Detroit, as one of their wonderful city council member has suggested and demanded, since they voted for him. Gotta love that Democratic logic. Can't recall at any point in my life, a point where I specifically mandated something for myself, from someone I voted into office.
Yet here we are again, same concept. Want want want.
Xaziol
Don't let one fat @ss clowncil memeber speak for Detroit. In fact, everybody on that council is a laughing stock and represents why the city is in the fiscal nightmare it is. But believe me that obama will not come running to Detroit with sacks of money. Even he know it's like trying to drill a hole in water.
But I'm sure there was a point in your life where you did in fact do something for somebody...... knowing full well that you'd be asking them for a specific favor at a later date. Don't be naive....... and please don't think that the people who read your posts are as well.
OK lazerfox and when one of your loved ones is killed by an abuser behind the wheel, what will become of their legacy!
So do you want to go back and yell at the people who made it okay for Alcohol to be legalized as well? Because right now that is the number one factor in most auto related incidents where a DUI/DWI is involved. It all comes down to personal responsibility. You drink or light up, stay home to do it or wait until you are sober to drive if you are at a party. Simple. People that can't do that deserve to be charged when caught.
That 67 year old doper looks like she has been around the dope block mannnnnnnny times.
All I can say is, It's about damn time!! This nation's hysteria and misconception of this substance is ridiculous. I truly hope this becomes a positive example to the other states. Kudos to the progressive-minded people of Colorado and Washington for the passage of the law. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!! RIGHT THE @!$%# ON!!
I'm so proud of these great states. Can we bring this freedom to the rest of our nation?
Oh, what progress! It's now legal for the youth to rot their brains, great, what a future this country has to look forward to.
It's always been legal for the youth to rot their brains... it's called Television...
Hey Rodney, do you drink? And the "smoking age" is 21. If you can kill people for your country at 18 I sure as hell think you ought to be able to smoke some pot at 21...
Leave Rodney alone...... he's got to paint his white picket fence and attend an NRA meeting shortly after. Way too busy to be heckle by the like of someone like YOU.
A true fan of personal liberty should support both cannabis decriminalization and gun rights.
their brains were already 'rotting'....on booozzee knipple-head!
The start of something GREAT, America!!
Gotta love Seattle, smoke em if you got em!
Wooooow......dude ...bro ....look how tall that space needle is ......no really dude...... just look at it bro .....It's awwwwwwesome!!
Rodney, it beats drinking and driving. Killing innocent people with alcohol. oh, and rotting their brains, livers, stomachs. Pick your poison, but don't be a hypocrite.
Exactly! Why drink and drive when you can smoke and fly?
Lonnie: according to this article pot can be just as dangerous as alcohol if smoked before driving.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/36267223/Why_We_Should_Not_Legalize_Marijuana
hmmm......I always thought people who were stoned just drove very slowly. People are going to smoke and drive regardless of whether it is legal or not .....just like drunk drivers
Hey ...they get an avg. of 3 ft of rainfall per year in Seattle .....Let them have their reefer. Enjoy !
Good for them. Legalize it everywhere. I'd move there but I'm not moving across the country when federal authorities still consider possession of marijuana illegal. If it has a positive effect on Washington state's fiscal problems, I could see other states embracing similar legislation and taxing it.
Congrats Washington State! Finally getting a little freedom back in this country. It's not a lot but hell, baby steps add up....
What a slippery slope we are on, and there are those that cheer it on.
What slope is that TanMan? A little damn freedom in this country? I suppose you were against ending alcohol prohibition too. Get real.....
The hypocrites on this thread are unreal.
I suppose all the money and lives wasted in the War on Drugs and keeping these people in jail is somehow a responsible use of federal dollars.
They must be Republicans, because that would make way too much sense.
Really, well I am a Republican and I voted for it, AND I think it is a waste of money this so called war on drugs .. All its doing is wasting money and killing people.
.
tan man go get a drink
I was born and live in Washington state TanManTexas.. and your response doesn't surprise me at all since you're from Texas. Your state loves to prosecute people and make money off the prison system.
Fix the Economy, Legalize and Tax Weed Nationally.
good for them! finally. some personal freedoms. it should be the law of the land.
It's about time.
I'm so happy that some group of politicians have an understanding for their people, I just wish these southern bigots would get their life together and be more mindful of the people oppose to their own personal beliefs. But its funny because behind close doors we know they have their own closet. I know it will come someday to the south but congrats to the people in Washington, if it just wasn't so cold.
Hey cfkjr, I have been a Washingtonian all my life. This is a great state and the weather isn't all that bad. We are a liberal leaning state and really believe in freedom of choice. We don't really care for people moving here from out of state that want to change OUR laws to satisfy their beliefs. Just leave us alone and let the pot smokers (myself included) and the LBGT citizens enjoy their new found freedoms.
Your post doesn't make sense. I don't live in the south, but I wonder why you do and at the same time are so bigoted against the people you live around. If life is so bad there, why don't you move? Your post is rambling and doesn't make sense.
Tax revenues are of a real concern, here, in Colorado. The first $40 million goes directly to school infrastructure, that much is assured. However, the remaining revenues (which may be in the billions) have yet to be allocated. We have a TABOR law (tax payers bill of rights) that means the legislature has to ask the public about new taxes. This was a sneaky way to get a massive tax passed, without letting the people decide where it is to be spent! We have a balanced budget amendment, which the politicians take as a mandate to spend every dime of revenue. I believe the state should run a surplus, AND THEN ask the people where to spend the extra funds!
I think what Narait was trying to say, and I think it's pretty obvious by looking at the pictures, is that the people in these pictures look like scum. Hairy, unkept beards, sloppy dressed people, etc. Why can't there be professional, nice dressed, suit sporting, dress sporting people? Just because people smoke pot doesn't mean they can't be clean, handsome, pretty, men and women. So where are they?
We don't pose for pictures, and publicity isn't a goal. Yes, the most ardent of supporters have projected an "image". However, when my friends and I get together we seem to forget to doff our ties, and put on a tie-dye shirt! I guess you would want us to pose..... an engineer, banker, and lawyer. Naw, we're not that narcissistic!
a liar.
Troy - All those people are sleeping because they have to get up the next day to work.......with no hangover!! PS the rest of the professional people are everywhere in this country hiding, afraid of being thrown in jail.
Really, scum, you know these people personally then, because you can't tell that by looking at the pictures. And since when because someone has facial hair are they dirty. Sounds like some bigot from the 60's talking about hippies. Don't you think it's time to stop judging people just because they don't look like you?
This is Seattle we're talking about - the birthplace of grunge.
We were at home in bed at midnight, where were you at midnight, Troy?
Troy was very likely in an airport bathroom stall awaiting his flight to a Huskers away game, tapping his foot, looking for takers. Scum... Really? I can only assume you are simply looking for reactions to your post. I truly cannot believe there are not an overwhelming amount of pot smokers in Nebraska, what else is there to do besides football and get baked?
And to those who think the federalis will step in where our local government has "failed"... Do any of you actually think the federal government is going to step in and prosecute simple posession "crimes"? Not a flippin chance. They will sit back and let us in washington figure it out, then jump on the bandwagon and collect serious revenue once the ancient narrow minded legislators die. You all know the one's I'm talking about, they voted against equal rights for minorities until it became uncool to do so.
Letus - Scott Schuelein Univ. of Okla. 1988 BSEE. Did you get your GED in the mail yet?
Now it is time to get it done in the rest of the country....ASAP...
The Mexican drug cartels love you and kill for you.
About damn time. I hope the rest of the states follow suit.
Hopefully, when they all finish smoking, they'll decide they can fly off the Space Needle.
Letusreason, maybe you could go play a game of Pied Piper with them and see if they follow you?
and "Hopefully" when you leave the bar you are drinking in they may land on you!
Many thanks to the voters of Colorado & Washington for cutting through the mis-information and legalizing this plant which requires no refinement to enjoy! The next step for true legalization, remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Once that is done, the DEA and US Attorneys will stand down. Join the conversation:
IN the mid 1930's it was congress that passed the laws making marijuana illegal. There wasn't even a DEA then. Have you ever watched the movie "reefer madness", the most idiotic movie ever made. In the early 1900's and in the late 1800's. cocaine was legal and was used in a lot of herbal medicines, even Coca Cola had it in it. That was the secret ingredient they wouldn't disclose. What we should do is require every elected official has to be drug tested before taking office and at least once a year while in office. We would then see who the hyprocrites are. Make POT legal for everyone over the age of 21 and tax it.
Good for them, honestly lets be real here, the only threat to public safety anyone at this event will be is to the shelves of the 7-11 right around the corner!!!
Cant wait two things happen, A: Maryland gets off its high horse (pun intended) and puts the same laws in place, and B: The Federal Government removes Marijuana from the Class A substances and drops it as low as it can go. This will reduce their need to prosecute offenders, without having to make it legal, because i just don't see that happening any time soon. YET!!
Your right, the perscription drug companies are payin big bucks now to keep it @ the class A substance. It would kill there industry.
I live in Washington state and point being missed is that even though the possession of small amount of pot is legal, smoking in public is not. The first thing these folks did was to go out ant break the law by smoking at a city park. Seattle police will cite you for drinking in public -- they should do the same here.
Seattle police are currently not enforcing the smoking in public, it would be a $103 ticket otherwise. They may be selective about that, in this case it would just have created bad press, and they have more important things to do.
Clearview, the Seattle council just approved allowing "pot gardens" for the city. If you don't like our new law then don't smoke any.