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Politics Northwest

The Seattle Times political team explores national, state and local politics.

July 1, 2010 at 3:50 PM

Signature drive for initiative to legalize marijuana falls short

Initiative 1068 organizers say they won't have enough signatures to qualify their measure for the ballot.

The proposal would have removed state civil and criminal penalties for persons 18 years or older who cultivate, possess, transport, sell, or use marijuana.

Ballot measures need at least 241,153 valid signatures of registered Washington voters to make the ballot and the Secretary of State recommends at least 300,000 as a buffer.

Philip Dawdy, campaign director for the initiative, blamed the cold and rainy spring. "We ran into a lot of problems with the mechanics just because of the weather," he said.

Dawdy said the all-volunteer campaign will probably end up 40,000 to 50,000 signatures short of what's needed.

Politics Northwest

Signature drive for initiative to legalize marijuana falls short

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