Seattle Times, 19 Aug 2012 – Some Accept Tax, Others Dig in Heels Agency Dismisses Legal Objections Tax enforcers have started auditing medical-marijuana dispensaries in Washington, escalating a dispute over whether the outlets should be collecting money for state government.

Seattle Times, 20 Aug 2012 – Revelers at Seattle’s Hempfest celebration of marijuana were offered a debate by supporters and opponents of Initiative 502. We hope they were sober enough to think through it. For the first time, it is possible to envision an end to marijuana prohibition. That is a huge change — a huge possible change that hasn’t happened yet. But prohibition replaced by what? Any new regime will have to be acceptable to a majority of people — and not just a majority of revelers at Hempfest or voters in liberal Seattle.

Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug 2012 – Some Pot Fans Are Surprised to Find Themselves Opposing a State Ballot Measure. SEATTLE – Washington’s annual Hempfest – a three-day celebration of pot, bongs and hemp bead necklaces that is typically one of Seattle’s largest festivals – was uncharacteristically worked up Saturday over what should have been cause for laid-back cheering: a fast-gaining ballot initiative to legalize possession of small quantities of marijuana.

Seattle Times, 16 Aug 2012 – Event Usually a Rally for Marijuana Measures Opponents Say I-502 Doesn’t Go Far Enough 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.

DrugSense

North Kitsap Herald, 17 Aug 2012 – POULSBO — Poulsbo’s new zoning and code ordinances are ready for public review. The city’s Planning Commission began reviewing the ordinances in March, and after meeting 14 times, directed planning staff to revise the ordinance with their recommended changes.

DrugSense

Seattle Times, 11 Aug 2012 – The initiative to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana in Washington was estimated on Friday to raise up to $1.9 billion in new tax revenue over five years — or zero. The wild swing, included in an analysis by the state Office of Financial Management, reflects broad uncertainty about the potential federal intervention in an initiative that would set up the nation’s first regulated market for recreational marijuana use.

The Herald, 11 Aug 2012 – Legalized Marijuana Might Be a Lucrative Revenue Source for the State – — If the Federal Government Were to Permit It. OLYMPIA — If voters pass Initiative 502 this fall allowing adults to legally grow, sell and smoke marijuana, it could spur an economic boon generating a half-billion dollars a year for the state coffers.

Yakima Herald-Republic, 10 Aug 2012 – Wapato has become the first city in the Yakima Valley to hammer out an ordinance governing collective medical marijuana gardens and dispensaries in the event they become legal under federal law. "The way things are going, it’s going to be legal sometime," said Mayor Jesse Farias. "So if it becomes legal, this is what’s going to happen."