December 6: Historic Day as Washington Marijuana Legalization Law Takes Effect, Possession of Marijuana Becomes Legal in Washington State

Starting tomorrow, people aged 21 and over will be able to legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana in Washington State. On Election Day last month, 55 percent of voters in both Washington State and Colorado voted to make marijuana legal, making those states the first two to approve legally regulating marijuana like alcohol. The Washington State Liquor Control Board has until December of next year to implement rules for the regulated market.

There were more than 241,000 arrests for marijuana possession in Washington State over the past 25 years at a cost to the state of over $300,000,000. In 2010 alone there were 11,000 arrests for marijuana possession. A single arrest for possession costs from $1000 to $2000 and creates a permanent criminal record that can severely limit an individual’s ability to obtain housing, schooling, employment, and credit. Tomorrow this waste of taxpayer dollars – and human potential – comes to an end.

“Washington State and Colorado made history on Election Day by becoming not just the first two states in the country – but the first political jurisdictions anywhere in the world – to approve the legal regulation of marijuana,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “The only way federal marijuana prohibition is going to end is by voters and legislators in other states doing just what folks in those two states just did.”