Washington Democrats endorse Initiative 692
At the 1998 Washington State Democratic Convention held June 5 and 6 in Yakima, Democrats approved a resolution to support Initiative 692, the Washington State Medical Marijuana Initiative. Over 650 delegates from around the state gathered to vote on issues central to the Democratic Platform. Included were resolutions to support I-692 and to refocus our drug war efforts on prevention and treatment.
The two resolutions passed as follows:
- "We support the narrowly focused Medical Marijuana Initiative, which would allow physicians to authorize, and qualified patients to use, marijuana medicinally for well-established medical conditions."
- "We support redefining the war on drugs to include emphasis on prevention and treatment to demonstrate the importance of reducing demand rather than simply focusing all resources on supply."
While party leadership remained silent on the issue, it was clear the delegates at the convention supported a patient's right to use medical marijuana. Justice Sanders, the dissenting voice in the Ralph Seeley medical marijuana case, made an appearance in his race to defend his Supreme Court seat. He was met with resounding applause when he proclaimed that Ralph Seeley and others like Ralph should have the right to use medical marijuana.
While party support was broad, the initiative resolution can be credited to the hard work of many dedicated activists working at the grassroots level.
Much of the efforts to seek the endorsement of the Democratic Party was coordinated through the online mailing list hemp-talk@hemp.net. Hemp-Talk is a free Internet mailing list comprised of politicians, doctors, lawyers and hemp activists, all working towards reform of current laws concerning marijuana.
The process began in early March, when Medical Marijuana NOW! activist Randy Chase suggested interested parties go to their local precinct caucus meeting and introduce resolutions that the party support the Medical Marijuana Initiative. Dr. David Edwards, the Medical Coordinator for the Washington Hemp Education Network, quickly followed up with suggested wording for the initial resolution. The online discussion that followed resulted in numerous activists taking the same proposal to precincts across the state.
At the precinct caucuses held on March 3, every activist who took the proposed resolution to their caucus gained near unanimous support as well as much help and advice from the more seasoned party members. In addition to proposing the medical marijuana resolution, activists signed on as a delegates to their district caucuses.
When the district caucuses arrived in late April, activists again showed up prepared to defend the resolution that had already passed at the precinct level. At this point in the political process, they signed on as elected delegates to the State Convention in Yakima.
At the State Convention, 6 elected delegates attended specifically to support the medical marijuana resolution. They operated a table to give out information and collect signatures for Initiative 692.
Washington Hemp Education Network members who were delegates to the Convention included Dr. David Edwards, Bob Owen, Eve Lentz, Tim Crowley, Magic Black-Ferguson, and Robert Lunday. Activist and 43rd District Republican Delegate Ben Livingston also attended in support of the initiative.
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