A historic vote this November on legalizing marijuana may seem like the perfect backdrop for Seattle's Hempfest at Myrtle Edwards Park, but activists will unfurl their pot-leaf flags Friday amid unprecedented political infighting.
The pro-marijuana movement in Washington state is so splintered that Hempfest organizers are staying neutral on the legalization measure, Initiative 502.
For months, a faction of pot activists has been campaigning against the initiative. And on Saturday at Hempfest, activists for and against the initiative will square off in a panel discussion.
Things are so fractured that Hempfest director Vivian McPeak, a critic of I-502, said several staff members would have left the organization if it had taken sides on the measure.
"It's painful and it's frustrating," McPeak said. "For Hempfest it's been sort of like navigating shark-infested waters."
Hempfest, which began in Volunteer Park in 1991, draws tens of thousands each year to Myrtle Edwards Park for music and entertainment, vendors, forums and speakers.
It's a political rally above all else, and organizers used the event to campaign heavily for marijuana-related ballot measures in the past. But McPeak said it was easy to support legalization when it seemed like a far-off dream. Now that it's here, with dozens of pages attached, disagreements have surfaced.
Those opposed to I-502 say it doesn't go far enough.
It wouldn't legalize home growing except by medical-marijuana patients and would allow sales for recreation use only at state-licensed marijuana stores.
Another concern is the measure's driving under the influence, or DUI, provision, which would allow convictions based on the amount of active THC in a driver's bloodstream, which medical-marijuana patients say would effectively criminalize their driving. No amount of THC is allowed for drivers under 21.
"I believe that Hempfest should have taken a position against 502, and I think some of these national organizations who have come out in support of it have done so on a really knee-jerk basis," said Doug Hiatt of Sensible Washington, which opposes the initiative.
He calls the initiative "a ridiculous waste of time and money" because it doesn't actually repeal laws barring marijuana. Instead, the initiative makes an exception to existing law to allow people over 21 to possess up to one ounce.
"Changing 100 years of prohibition is going to be complicated," said McPeak.
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