Marijuana-legalization supporters launching new campaign

Sensible Washington, the group that sponsored a marijuana-legalization bill that didn't make it to the ballot this election season, plans to launch its 2011 legalization campaign at Seattle Hempfest this weekend.

The group will be among the variety of musicians, artists, vendors and activists at the annual August festival and political rally at Myrtle Edwards Park.

Sensible Washington chairman and Seattle medical-marijuana attorney Douglas Hiatt said I-1068, the proposed bill, didn't get enough signatures to qualify for this year's election, but he hopes things will improve for the group next year.

The past year has been a tough one for marijuana-legalization proponents. In the last legislative session, the state House of Representatives killed a legalization bill. Then, a bill that would have reclassified marijuana as a civil infraction rather than a misdemeanor never made it to a vote.

"We've learned a lot from our experiences earlier this year and are coming back better organized and with many more volunteers committed to the legalization cause," Hiatt said in a news release.

Sensible Washington representatives will speak to festival attendees about their campaign at 3:50 p.m. Saturday at McWilliams Memorial Stage and at 3:45 p.m. Sunday at Share Parker Memorial Main Stage at Hempfest.

Among the speakers will be Jodie Emery, wife of Canada's "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery, who is expected to be sentenced in Seattle next month on one count of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Emery, an outspoken activist who claims to have given $4 million over the years to political and legal groups fighting to decriminalize marijuana, was originally charged with money-laundering and manufacturing (or growing) and distributing marijuana seeds. He faces up to five years in prison.

Hempfest, which began in 1991 as a 6-month-long peace vigil opposing the Persian Gulf War, is a large-scale protest rally advocating the medical, recreational and industrial use of marijuana and hemp, organizers say.

Jill Kimball: 206-464-2136 or jkimball@seattletimes.com. Information from The Seattle Times archives is included in this report.