Seattle City Council votes unanimously to support marijuana decriminalization in Washington State

On December 14, 2009, Seattle City Council voted unanimously to pass [Resolution 31174][1], which sets the 2010 state legislative agenda for the city. Under "Session Priorities, Law & Criminal Justice" the resolution states, "In addition, we support reclassifying possession of small amounts of marijuana from a misdemeanor to a civil infraction. We also support immunity from prosecution for illegal drug possession for persons who witness or experience drug overdoses and call for medical assistance."

Washington's SB 5615 and HB 1177, the bills introduced by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles and Rep. Dave Upthegrove, would reclassify adult possession of marijuana from a crime carrying mandatory jail time to a civil infraction imposing a $100 fine payable by mail, similar to a parking ticket.

This video is an excerpt of the entire City Council session for 2009-12-14, which is available [streaming][2] on the Web and for [download][3]. This excerpt begins at 01:06:08 and ends at 01:16:04. Seattle City Council meetings are public record, so this video is public domain.

References:

[1]: http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~scripts/nph-brs.exe?s1=&s3=31174&s2=&a... or http://tr.im/HOMw
[2]: http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=2020949
[3]: http://video.seattle.gov:8080/media/council/Full_12142009V.flv

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• seattle
• washington state
• government
• marijuana
• cannabis
• decriminalization
• drugs
• drug war
• drug policy
• drug law reform
• budget
• overdose
• amnesty
• 2010
• harm reduction

[hydroponikroniksmoke]

sensible washington is the group that is doing the petitions, go to their website or on facebook

[anarksee]

One of the few good things they did.

[Catalyst420XxX]

Decriminalizing marijuana is a step in the right direction but it needs to be legalized and taxed so it can benefit our economy by putting money in it and creating many jobs if this wont happen by federal law then each state should still do it under state law. {Get High Don't Die} Legalize Marijuana.