Supporters of Initiative 1068, which would legalize marijuana in Washington, are up in smoke at being dumped by an influential union and being treated as a "fringe issue" by the state Democratic Party.
"It was (bleeping) tacky after they danced with us for months," said Philip Dawdy, I-1068 campaign coordinator.
The campaign learned, from an Associated Press reporter, that it would not be getting money from the Service Employees International Union and other wellsprings of cash for liberal causes in the Evergreen State.
But I-1068 backers vowed they will continue the quest for 241,153 valid voter signatures, needed by June 30 to put legalized pot on the November ballot. The campaign has over 110,000 signatures, but needs 320,000 to pass the signature check at the Secretary of State's office.
What the campaign discovered, according to Dawdy, was that some organizations are still "scared" at being associated with the cause of legalizing cannabis, and that it is "still a real stigma."
"It's 2010 and we're still facing the old fashioned, out of date stigma about marijuana," he added.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington was another prominent non-supporter of I-1068.
"The armchair liberals at the ACLU have decided that marijuana shouldn't be legalized this year: If they'd given us a neutral response, we could have raised the funds to get this on the ballot, but they didn't," said Jeffrey Steinborn, a Seattle attorney who has handled marijuana possession cases since the late 1960's.
Backers of I-1068 blamed other factors, such as a cool, wet spring.
An I-1068 petition carrier worked the Clinton-to-Mukilteo ferry line on Sunday afternoon in a driving rain storm.
I-1068 backers noted how corporate and labor-backed initiative campaigns -- and the annual signature drives of professional initiative sponsor Tim Eyman -- rely on mercenaries, people paid to gather signatures.
The campaign for Initiative 1098, tax reform keyed to an income tax on the rich, is hoping volunteers can collect 100,000 signatures - but employing mercenaries to esecure the bulk of the needed names.
Hence, the I-1068 campaign noted in a statement, the supposedly populist initiative system has become an exercise in non-reefer madness, "tilted against average citizens and in favor of big moneyed interests."
"We still have a shot at doing this," said Dawdy, noting that the campaign has attracted about 1,800 volunteers and circulated 20,000 petitions.
He noted that signature collection for I-695, Eyman's $30 car tabs measure, ended on a high in late June of 1999.
It won a spot on the ballot, 55 percent of the vote in November, and inflicted Eyman on the state's public life.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Seattle pi
Author: Joel Connelly
Contact: Seattle pi
Copyright: 2010 Hearst Seattle Media, LLC
Website: Labor pains hit marijuana initiative
* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
"It was (bleeping) tacky after they danced with us for months," said Philip Dawdy, I-1068 campaign coordinator.
The campaign learned, from an Associated Press reporter, that it would not be getting money from the Service Employees International Union and other wellsprings of cash for liberal causes in the Evergreen State.
But I-1068 backers vowed they will continue the quest for 241,153 valid voter signatures, needed by June 30 to put legalized pot on the November ballot. The campaign has over 110,000 signatures, but needs 320,000 to pass the signature check at the Secretary of State's office.
What the campaign discovered, according to Dawdy, was that some organizations are still "scared" at being associated with the cause of legalizing cannabis, and that it is "still a real stigma."
"It's 2010 and we're still facing the old fashioned, out of date stigma about marijuana," he added.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington was another prominent non-supporter of I-1068.
"The armchair liberals at the ACLU have decided that marijuana shouldn't be legalized this year: If they'd given us a neutral response, we could have raised the funds to get this on the ballot, but they didn't," said Jeffrey Steinborn, a Seattle attorney who has handled marijuana possession cases since the late 1960's.
Backers of I-1068 blamed other factors, such as a cool, wet spring.
An I-1068 petition carrier worked the Clinton-to-Mukilteo ferry line on Sunday afternoon in a driving rain storm.
I-1068 backers noted how corporate and labor-backed initiative campaigns -- and the annual signature drives of professional initiative sponsor Tim Eyman -- rely on mercenaries, people paid to gather signatures.
The campaign for Initiative 1098, tax reform keyed to an income tax on the rich, is hoping volunteers can collect 100,000 signatures - but employing mercenaries to esecure the bulk of the needed names.
Hence, the I-1068 campaign noted in a statement, the supposedly populist initiative system has become an exercise in non-reefer madness, "tilted against average citizens and in favor of big moneyed interests."
"We still have a shot at doing this," said Dawdy, noting that the campaign has attracted about 1,800 volunteers and circulated 20,000 petitions.
He noted that signature collection for I-695, Eyman's $30 car tabs measure, ended on a high in late June of 1999.
It won a spot on the ballot, 55 percent of the vote in November, and inflicted Eyman on the state's public life.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Seattle pi
Author: Joel Connelly
Contact: Seattle pi
Copyright: 2010 Hearst Seattle Media, LLC
Website: Labor pains hit marijuana initiative
* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
