Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
It's been nearly seven months since the Poulsbo City Council banned recreational and medical marijuana operations in Poulsbo. But one local man hasn't forgotten the controversial decision.
Branden Heinemann of Poulsbo was a vocal opponent of the ban as it was being discussed by the council in June 2014. Heinemann has now made an 18-minute online documentary about Poulsbo's ban on marijuana, expressing his opinion that the City Council's arguments for the prohibition were not valid.
"This video began as an extra credit project for a sociology class I was taking at Olympic College," Heinemann said. "I wanted to look even more in depth at how local government responded to this issue, and how it operates in general."
Heinemann's first interviews for the video began in July 2014. It took a few more months to organize further interviews, which include city officials from Bainbridge Island, Bremerton, Ferndale, Port Orchard and Port Townsend, as well as Rep. Sherry Appleton, D-Poulsbo. Heinemann's video lines up Poulsbo's arguments for the ban with what other officials say. Arguments such as those made by council members on the dais and other statements, such as Stern's spot on the Jason Rantz radio show on KIRO 97.3 FM.
"(Ed Stern) should have read the initiative, because it was the initiative that laid out how the taxes were going to be spent," Appleton said in the documentary.
"Ed Stern decided to write a really ugly, ugly editorial in (The Seattle) Times and he just railed on us. I also said something to Ed Stern after I saw what he had said, and said 'Ed, where were you? I don't remember seeing you in Olympia talking about what the city needs.' He just didn't answer me. I think it's specious and it's also arbitrary. They had really no reason to do that."
Council members cited a range of reasons to ban medical and recreational marijuana operations in the city – from moral to financial. Councilman Stern, for example, was vocal about the state not sharing any of the tax revenue with local jurisdictions to offset additional costs from licensing new businesses and enforcing related laws.
What bothered Heinemann about the ban, wasn't so much about the topic of marijuana, he said; he has no interest in starting a marijuana business in Poulsbo.
"It has more to do with the council interfering with our constitutional right to initiative," Heinemann said. "The council keeps blaming the legislature for various perceived issues with the law, yet the law didn't come from the Legislature, it came from the ballot."
Heinemann also questions why the council was so vocal about the ban, yet never addressed any issues with legislators.
"If the state law has issues, that is on the state legislators to figure out, not the Poulsbo City Council," he said.
"In addition to the circumvention of our legislative powers, I feel we are being misled by the economic arguments put forward by City Council member Ed Stern," Heinemann added. "(Local marijuana) regulations have already been generated. They were brought to the council with a recommendation for approval by the planning commission and the council rejected it."
Those regulations were crafted in anticipation of the recreational market coming into place. Poulsbo's initial regulations zoned marijuana businesses in a small, mostly undeveloped corner at the north end of the city. Poulsbo voted down the regulations in favor of a ban in June 2014.
Heinemann's video can be viewed online at YouTube.com, by searching "Pot in Poulsbo: A second look."
Stern declined to comment on Heinemann's video, or the comments by Appleton.
"Our points have been validated by the state of Colorado and their experience, both costs and revenues," Stern said, pointing to a Feb. 2 Associated Press article that reports on Colorado's plan to share marijuana tax revenue with local jurisdictions, as well as movement within the Washington Legislature to share tax revenue with local jurisdictions. Stern is quoted in the article as saying the state should pay for local impacts of the legal marijuana market.
"The testimony from the experts in Colorado exactly correspond to what we said," Stern said. "I don't want to speculate when what we are dealing with is facts."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Online documentary says City Council wrong in banning pot - North Kitsap Herald
Author: Richard Oxley
Contact:roxley@northkitsapherald.com
Photo Credit: Elixir Media Productions
Website: www.northkitsapherald.com - North Kitsap Herald
Branden Heinemann of Poulsbo was a vocal opponent of the ban as it was being discussed by the council in June 2014. Heinemann has now made an 18-minute online documentary about Poulsbo's ban on marijuana, expressing his opinion that the City Council's arguments for the prohibition were not valid.
"This video began as an extra credit project for a sociology class I was taking at Olympic College," Heinemann said. "I wanted to look even more in depth at how local government responded to this issue, and how it operates in general."
Heinemann's first interviews for the video began in July 2014. It took a few more months to organize further interviews, which include city officials from Bainbridge Island, Bremerton, Ferndale, Port Orchard and Port Townsend, as well as Rep. Sherry Appleton, D-Poulsbo. Heinemann's video lines up Poulsbo's arguments for the ban with what other officials say. Arguments such as those made by council members on the dais and other statements, such as Stern's spot on the Jason Rantz radio show on KIRO 97.3 FM.
"(Ed Stern) should have read the initiative, because it was the initiative that laid out how the taxes were going to be spent," Appleton said in the documentary.
"Ed Stern decided to write a really ugly, ugly editorial in (The Seattle) Times and he just railed on us. I also said something to Ed Stern after I saw what he had said, and said 'Ed, where were you? I don't remember seeing you in Olympia talking about what the city needs.' He just didn't answer me. I think it's specious and it's also arbitrary. They had really no reason to do that."
Council members cited a range of reasons to ban medical and recreational marijuana operations in the city – from moral to financial. Councilman Stern, for example, was vocal about the state not sharing any of the tax revenue with local jurisdictions to offset additional costs from licensing new businesses and enforcing related laws.
What bothered Heinemann about the ban, wasn't so much about the topic of marijuana, he said; he has no interest in starting a marijuana business in Poulsbo.
"It has more to do with the council interfering with our constitutional right to initiative," Heinemann said. "The council keeps blaming the legislature for various perceived issues with the law, yet the law didn't come from the Legislature, it came from the ballot."
Heinemann also questions why the council was so vocal about the ban, yet never addressed any issues with legislators.
"If the state law has issues, that is on the state legislators to figure out, not the Poulsbo City Council," he said.
"In addition to the circumvention of our legislative powers, I feel we are being misled by the economic arguments put forward by City Council member Ed Stern," Heinemann added. "(Local marijuana) regulations have already been generated. They were brought to the council with a recommendation for approval by the planning commission and the council rejected it."
Those regulations were crafted in anticipation of the recreational market coming into place. Poulsbo's initial regulations zoned marijuana businesses in a small, mostly undeveloped corner at the north end of the city. Poulsbo voted down the regulations in favor of a ban in June 2014.
Heinemann's video can be viewed online at YouTube.com, by searching "Pot in Poulsbo: A second look."
Stern declined to comment on Heinemann's video, or the comments by Appleton.
"Our points have been validated by the state of Colorado and their experience, both costs and revenues," Stern said, pointing to a Feb. 2 Associated Press article that reports on Colorado's plan to share marijuana tax revenue with local jurisdictions, as well as movement within the Washington Legislature to share tax revenue with local jurisdictions. Stern is quoted in the article as saying the state should pay for local impacts of the legal marijuana market.
"The testimony from the experts in Colorado exactly correspond to what we said," Stern said. "I don't want to speculate when what we are dealing with is facts."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Online documentary says City Council wrong in banning pot - North Kitsap Herald
Author: Richard Oxley
Contact:roxley@northkitsapherald.com
Photo Credit: Elixir Media Productions
Website: www.northkitsapherald.com - North Kitsap Herald
