Tag Archives: Selling

“In street dealing cases, this would be the first time. Ever,” Seattle Police Department (SPD) spokesman Sean Whitcomb told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The incident marks an unusual ‘first’ as the US becomes more lenient about marijuana use.Washington and Colorado have already legalized the drug on a statewide level, but selling marijuana as an unlicensed dealer is still against the law. But even though six of the 12 individuals caught with marijuana in Seattle, Washington, were suspected of selling the drugs, the police decided to let it slide.“A number of suspects possessed marijuana collectively totaling 36.8 grams of marijuana,” the department wrote on its blog. “The marijuana was returned to each individual owner because the amount possessed is legally allowed.”Six other individuals of the group were arrested and charged for dealing marijuana, and in two cases carrying illegal narcotics. The SPD claims it only arrested those who had a history of drug dealing or violent crimes – not those who received their first warning.“Six were booked into King County Jail – two of which possessed a total of 3.3 grams of methamphetamine,” the department writes, while also indicating that these six offenders already had a criminal record.“The offender will have been shown to have been warned about marijuana sales, and that they still returned, despite our attempt at gaining their cooperation,” Narcotics Lt. Mike Kebba told Seattle PI.The police initially investigated the 12 suspected dealers in response to complaints from local residents. But those who possessed a small amount of marijuana were simply released and discouraged from selling pot or consuming it in public places. They were given a warning letter outlining ways to be careful in regards to marijuana possession.“The admonishment letter is reasonable, because we are not restricting their freedom to go anywhere,” Kebba said. “SPD will just be requiring them to comply with the law while in public places and refrain from drug dealing.”Ever since residents of Washington state voted to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in November 2012, state officials have been trying to figure out how to handle the new law. Recreational marijuana use in large part depends on the illegal sale of the drug. Ultimately, the new law will give state-licensed stores permits to acquire and sell the drug, but the Liquor Control Board has not yet set up such a system. Although it still remains a crime to sell or cultivate the drug in Washington state, police have demonstrated their willingness to overlook it in cases where suspected dealers have a clean record and very small amounts of the drug in their possession.“It’s a strange new world,” writes Seattle PI reporter Jake Ellison, describing a world in which police officers politely return the drugs to their owners.Although marijuana is only legal at the state level in Colorado and Washington, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) last month asked members of Congress to decriminalize its use in the United States.“There are people in jail for 37, 50, 45 years for nonviolent crimes,” he said. “That is a huge mistake.”And with 52 percent of Americans supporting the drug’s legalization, it may become increasingly difficult for law enforcement officers to fill up US prisons with marijuana users. … Read More