During a recent Kirkland town hall meeting of 45th District legislators, citizen participants returned to their cars to find a flyer on their windshields.
The flyer was about Rep. Goodman’s alleged illegal marijuana use and was funded by The Reagan Fund, a Republican political action committee. The flyer stated that “Driving high is a violation of state law and endangers everyone.”
It came on the heels of controversial articles in local newspapers reporting Goodman’s alleged drug abuse and impaired judgment.
During the meeting, legislators did not consider a question that a local resident submitted about what state legislators were prepared to do proactively to limit taxpayer exposure to lawsuits when the federal government determines to prosecute state-licensed growers, processors and distributors for violating federal laws.
The question was not read aloud by facilitator Rep. Larry Springer, D-Kirkland, and neither Sen. Andy Hill, R-Redmond, nor Rep. Goodman had an opportunity to answer it that day.
Despite partisan criticism leveled against local editors for publishing Rep. Goodman’s alleged personal lapses, the issue is relevant for many reasons. At a Washington State Liquor Control Board public hearing in Bremerton on March 7, one speaker provided testimony that if growers disagreed with the rules being developed by the Liquor Control Board, many would not follow them.
Is it naïve to think that people who have been doing their own thing in supplying an illegal market will now become law-abiding citizens, and voluntarily subject themselves to laws that, up to this point, they did not regard as worthy to follow?
Although the Republican hit piece on Rep. Goodman was regarded by many citizens to be tasteless, it was an attempt to surface an important issue directly related to Rep. Goodman’s oath of office and conduct.
Once elected, he swore to uphold the laws of the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and laws of Washington state. In 2010, when Rep. Goodman wanted to legalize marijuana, he knew it was illegal although he was allegedly secretly using it, thus calling into question his ability to be impartial on the issue of marijuana regulation.
Although Gov. Inslee’s approach to keep the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder informed of Washington state’s efforts to create a legal market for marijuana is open and forthright, marijuana is still a Schedule I controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act, and Washington and Colorado state laws are in violation of it.
What is going to happen when marijuana grown by a state-licensed grower seeps into the black market, and the federal government prosecutes the grower and the grower, then, turns to the state for his defense?
The question is whether Washington taxpayers want their tax dollars – federal and state – going to prosecute and defend growers who knowingly violate federal laws. If not, now is the time to let legislators know well in advance of the first lawsuit.
Leslie Kralicek, MA is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Chemical Dependency Professional Trainee. She resides in Sammamish, and attended the March 30, 2013 town hall meeting in Kirkland. She is also the author of the question concerning taxpayer exposure to federal lawsuits, and has been researching the issue of marijuana legalization extensively for the past year.
