State antimarijuana campaign coincides with I685 push
by David Postman Seattle Times Olympia bureau

OLYMPIA Federal dollars are funding an antimarijuana campaign led by
Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, even as backers of a statewide initiative seek
legalization of marijuana and some other illicit drugs for medicinal use.

Supporters of Initiative 685, which voters will approve or reject in
November, say Owen's antimarijuana effort amounts to a a
governmentfunded opposition campaign. The federal money paid for multiple
copies of an antimarijuana handbook and audiovisual material, plus the
salary of an adviser to the program.

Owen says the $170,000 Marijuana Awareness/Education Effort is an
outgrowth of his 10 years of antidrug work, not an attempt to campaign
against I685, which he vehemently opposes.

Owen and his staff say they are mindful of a law that prohibits tax
dollars from being used for a political campaign.

Other public officials and publicly funded organizations oppose the drug
initiative, too, and are looking for ways to help defeat it while staying
within the law.

A meeting last week to organize antidrug groups against the initiative
was attended by two employees of the state Department of Community, Trade
and Economic Development, an aide to Owen, a uniformed National Guard
official and two police officers. They said they were there on their own
time or only observing.

However, the antidrug program, written for Owen by Michigan's former drug
czar and a retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent in Florida,
doesn't shy away from the political.

It includes criticism of the drug initiatives approved last year in
Arizona and California, and of the wealthy national backers who financed
them. It also includes detailed arguments that attempt to refute the use
of marijuana as medicine, a key platform of the I685 campaign.

Owen's adviser on the project, whose salary was paid with federal funds,
says the initiatives need to be addressed. He says debates over legalizing
drugs lead to more teen drug use.

"We do take on the druglegitimizing movement," said Patrick Aaby, who
runs the program for Owen.

The program gives Owen plenty of opportunities to speak against the
initiative when he makes his antimarijuana pitch to community groups. On
those occasions, he is often asked what he thinks about I685.

"It opens the door," Owen said. "We're being very careful about that, but
I'll be damned if we let these people, who are doing what they are doing
with this awful initiative, cause us to stop talking about the problems of
drugs and our kids.

"Until someone ties me down and gags me, I'm going to continue telling
people what this debate is about."

Even before they knew of the federally funded marijuana program, backers
of I685 had filed a complaint with the Public Disclosure Commission
questioning whether Owen was misusing his public office to speak against
the initiative. Another complaint was filed with the state Ethics Board.

"Ever since I filed this, I've had the government running a campaign
against me," said Rob Killian, the Tacoma physician who sponsored I685.
"They will break the law any way they can to ensure there isn't another
voice in this war on drugs."

Killian said that because Owen promotes his program as nonpolitical, the
lieutenant governor often gets to make his presentation before community
groups without initiative proponents getting the same chance.

Initiative 685 would allow doctors to recommend that seriously ill
patients use marijuana, heroin, LSD or other drugs if there is evidence to
show it works as medicine and if a second physician concurs. The patient
would then be immune to prosecution for drug possession.

It would also make as many as 300 prisoners eligible for parole who are
serving time for personal drug possession and use, and send future drug
offenders to treatment, not prison.

People convicted of a violent crime on drugs would be required to serve
their full sentence.

Concern about the government's role in opposing I685 was evident last
week at National Guard headquarters near Tacoma, when antidrug groups met
to plot strategy with political consultants and public officials.

"We're interested in what government can do within the confines of the
law. We're not interested in asking government to do anything illegal,"
said David Perlman, a member of the Washington State Substance Abuse
Coalition who ran the meeting.

Susie Roberts, a program manager with the state Department of Community,
Trade and Economic Development, attended the meeting. She said department
attorneys have told the nonprofit, antidrug organizations that get state
grants that they cannot take a position on I685 because they risk losing
their taxexempt status.

For now, Owen's antimarijuana project is the most visible element of the
government's antidrug campaign.

Owen and Aaby were in Eastern Washington last week. They made their pitch
to the Toppenish Rotary Club in Yakima County, a state Board of Health
meeting in Ritzville, Adams County, a group of lawenforcement officials
in Wenatchee and an association of county assessors meeting in Spokane.

The grant paid for a phonebooksize handbook that includes newspaper
articles, statistics, a guide to debating marijuana issues and suggested
"talking points," plus a video and slides.

Aaby said copies of the book and the video are distributed to "key
community communicators" who "would feel comfortable sharing with their
friends, families, church members and whatnot."

The program is paid for out of a $3 million grant awarded to seven
Washington counties that the federal government says have a
disproportionately high rate of drug trafficking.

Most of the $3 million goes to law enforcement. But last year, Aaby and
others proposed using $194,000 for a program aimed at reducing teen drug
use. He said the program will actually cost about $170,000.

While the federal grant was applied for last year, the timing of the
program makes I685 supporters suspicious. A "Dear Community Leader"
letter from Owen introducing the program is dated Aug. 27, the day before
I685 officially kicked off its campaign. The program is set to end in
December, though Owen's staff hopes it will be renewed for another year.

Aaby said when the grant was written, he didn't know there would be a
Washington initiative. But he thought there might be, and hoped the
marijuana project could help to head it off.

David Postman's phone message number is 3609439882. His email address
is: dposnew@seatimes.com