Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.

Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year's Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they cheered and sparked up in unison.

A few dozen people gathered on a sidewalk outside the north Seattle headquarters of the annual Hempfest celebration and did the same, offering joints to reporters and blowing smoke into television news cameras.

"I feel like a kid in a candy store!" shouted Hempfest volunteer Darby Hageman. "It's all becoming real now!"

Washington and Colorado became the first states to vote to decriminalize and regulate the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana by adults over 21. Both measures call for setting up state licensing schemes for pot growers, processors and retail stores. Colorado's law is set to take effect by Jan. 5.

Technically, Washington's new marijuana law still forbids smoking pot in public, which remains punishable by a fine, like drinking in public. But pot fans wanted a party, and Seattle police weren't about to write them any tickets.

In another sweeping change for Washington, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday signed into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage. The state joins several others that allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.

The mood was festive in Seattle as dozens of gay and lesbian couples got in line to pick up marriage licenses at the King County auditor's office early Thursday.

King County and Thurston County announced they would open their auditors' offices shortly after midnight Wednesday to accommodate those who wanted to be among the first to get their licenses.

Kelly Middleton and her partner Amanda Dollente got in line at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Hours later, as the line grew, volunteers distributed roses and a group of men and women serenaded the waiting line to the tune of "Chapel of Love."

Because the state has a three-day waiting period, the earliest that weddings can take place is Sunday.

In dealing with marijuana, the Seattle Police Department told its 1,300 officers on Wednesday, just before legalization took hold, that until further notice they shall not issue citations for public marijuana use.

Officers will be advising people not to smoke in public, police spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee wrote on the SPD Blotter. "The police department believes that, under state law, you may responsibly get baked, order some pizzas and enjoy a 'Lord of the Rings' marathon in the privacy of your own home, if you want to."

He offered a catchy new directive referring to the film "The Big Lebowski," popular with many marijuana fans: "The Dude abides, and says 'take it inside!'"

"This is a big day because all our lives we've been living under the iron curtain of prohibition," said Hempfest director Vivian McPeak. "The whole world sees that prohibition just took a body blow."

Washington's new law decriminalizes possession of up to an ounce for those over 21, but for now selling marijuana remains illegal. I-502 gives the state a year to come up with a system of state-licensed growers, processors and retail stores, with the marijuana taxed 25 percent at each stage. Analysts have estimated that a legal pot market could bring Washington hundreds of millions of dollars a year in new tax revenue for schools, health care and basic government functions.

But marijuana remains illegal under federal law. That means federal agents can still arrest people for it, and it's banned from federal properties, including military bases and national parks.

The Justice Department has not said whether it will sue to try to block the regulatory schemes in Washington and Colorado from taking effect.

"The department's responsibility to enforce the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged," said a statement issued Wednesday by the Seattle U.S. attorney's office. "Neither states nor the executive branch can nullify a statute passed by Congress."

The legal question is whether the establishment of a regulated marijuana market would "frustrate the purpose" of the federal pot prohibition, and many constitutional law scholars say it very likely would.

That leaves the political question of whether the administration wants to try to block the regulatory system, even though it would remain legal to possess up to an ounce of marijuana.

Alison Holcomb is the drug policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and served as the campaign manager for New Approach Washington, which led the legalization drive. She said the voters clearly showed they're done with marijuana prohibition.

"New Approach Washington sponsors and the ACLU look forward to working with state and federal officials and to ensure the law is fully and fairly implemented," she said.

___

Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle

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Graphic details of Notorious B.I.G. murder revealed

The night rapper Notorious B.I.G. was gunned down in one of L.A.'s most famous unsolved homicides he had no drugs or alcohol in his system, according to a Los Angeles County coroner's report unsealed Friday.

A coroner's medical examiner ran toxicology screens for alcohol, cocaine, codeine, morphine and methamphetamine with negative results for all.

The autopsy report has been on a security hold and sealed for more than 15 years, ever since the rapper was killed in a drive-by shooting in March 1997.

DOCUMENT: Read Notorious B.I.G.’s full autopsy

The report shows that although he was shot four times, it was a single bullet that ended his life. One of the bullets entered the rapper's right hip, and fatally pierced several organs.

Notorious B.I.G., whose real name was Christopher George Latore Wallace, was killed by an unknown assailant on Wilshire Boulevard as the music star sat in the front passenger seat of a Chevrolet Suburban. The killing of the rapper, also known as Biggie Smalls, remains unsolved despite an LAPD task force that examined the death.

According to the autopsy, one bullet struck Wallace's left forearm and traveled down to his wrist while a another bullet hit him in the back and exited his body through his left shoulder.  Another shot  hit his left thigh and traveled through to his inner thigh before glancing off his scrotum. None of those rounds were fatal.

Notorious B.I.G.: FBI investigation files

The fatal shot, according to Dr. Lisa Scheinin, entered his right hip before slicing through his colon, liver, heart and part of his lung before wedging in his left shoulder area.

Two medium-caliber bullets were recovered from the hospital gurney, according to the report.

At the time of his death, Wallace was one of the biggest stars in rap music. His slaying shocked the hip-hop community, coming just months after the Las Vegas slaying of another marquee rapper, Los Angeles-based Tupac Shakur.

Once friends, the rappers became rivals whose respective camps regularly traded violent barbs in song lyrics and in interviews. Shakur's slaying also remains unsolved.

Various theories have linked the two homicides. Some believe the two men were killed as part of a rivalry between East Coast and West Coast rappers, or between their two music labels at the time, Los Angeles-based Death Row and New York-based Bad Boy Entertainment.

Amid questions about the killing, the FBI investigated various theories, including one from a former LAPD detective, who later publicly suggested that Wallace may have been killed by a hit man hired by a corrupt ex-LAPD officer on behalf of Marion "Suge" Knight, the founder of Death Row Records.

The FBI opened its probe after Wallace's family accused the city of covering up LAPD involvement in the rapper's slaying. Los Angeles police officials last year said they exhaustively searched for answers in the case without an arrest.

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-- Richard Winton

Follow Richard Winton (@LACrimes) on Twitter and Google+

Photo: Notorious  B.I.G. accepts his award for rap artist and rap single of the year at the 1995 Billboard Music Awards in New York. Credit: Mark Lennihan / Associated Press

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Afghan Spy Chief’s Attacker Hid Bomb by His Groin

KABUL, Afghanistan — The man who tried to kill Afghanistan’s intelligence chief this week by smuggling a bomb into a guesthouse in Kabul concealed the device “around his groin,” according to a statement released Friday by the government. The statement suggested one reason the bomb might not have been detected during a search.

It called the bombing, which seriously wounded the intelligence director, Asadullah Khalid, “unethical and contrary to principles of Shariah law.”

Shafiqullah Taheri, a spokesman for the National Directorate of Security, the agency headed by Mr. Khalid, said, “It is degrading and insulting to search anyone’s genital area, according to Shariah law.”

The spy agency has not said whether the bomber was searched when he entered the guesthouse on Thursday, where Mr. Khalid was meeting with the head of another government agency.

But if he were searched, the bomber would have forced any security guard who wanted to do his job thoroughly to behave in an un-Islamic fashion and intrude on an area of the body that is usually off limits to anyone other than a very close relative.

The only other information released Friday by the government was that Mr. Khalid, who is in his early 40s, was recovering. Western officials with some knowledge of the case said that while he would survive, he had serious abdominal injuries that would require multiple operations and that it was not yet clear if or when he would be able to return to work. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.

President Hamid Karzai visited Mr. Khalid on Thursday at a hospital run by the security directorate where he was initially taken, and Gen. John R. Allen, the commander of the international coalition forces in Afghanistan, visited him on Friday at the Bagram Air Base hospital where he was transferred late Thursday.

Other than the location of the bomb, the intelligence agency said little about the attack and released no information about the attacker, including whether he had died in the explosion or had been shot by a guard.

The directorate’s statement about the location of the bomb seemed in part to be a response to questions from the public about how a suicide bomber was able to get so close to Mr. Khalid without being detected.

Afghans have found the notion of security searches, which are routine in the West, extremely difficult to embrace from a religious and a cultural perspective. Muslim cultures generally place great emphasis on modesty, and men and women are reluctant to show any parts of their bodies to strangers. While different schools of Islamic law have somewhat different teachings, revealing any part of the body and touching anyone else’s body is restricted.

In Afghanistan’s extremely conservative culture, a sense of discretion runs even deeper. Even at the height of summer, most Afghan men do not wear shorts; if they were to, the shorts would be knee-length. Outside major cities, a vast majority of women would not leave their homes without wearing a burqa, a veil that completely hides the face and body.

Gradually, searches in Afghanistan have become more thorough as suicide bombers wearing explosive vests have become more prevalent. Afghan security forces have tried to inculcate a more Western approach to searches among their guards, but it has not been easy.

A number of Afghans regard a body search as an insult signifying a lack of trust. So if the bomber who tried to assassinate Mr. Khalid was being brought to meet him by a trusted person, guards might well have been reluctant to offend him with a thorough body search.

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Alicia Keys (Almost) Gets Auctioned Off in N.Y.C.

Caught in the Act

12/07/2012 at 06:35 PM EST

Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keys at the Black Ball "REDUX"

Stephen Lovekin/Child12/Wireimage

Alicia Keys was definitely on fire Thursday night.

The Grammy-winning singer hosted, performed – and was nearly auctioned off – at the Black Ball "REDUX," an annual event for her organization Keep A Child Alive, which assists those affected by AIDS in Africa, held at New York's legendary Apollo Theatre. The event, which was rescheduled due to Hurricane Sandy, honored Oprah Winfrey for her work in Africa and India and raised $2.9 million.

Keys took to the red carpet in a floor-length, form-fitting Alaia gown and could hardly control her excitement over her new album Girl on Fire, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts this week. "It's a joy that I can't even express," the singer said of her fifth chart-topping album.

And she was just as enthused over the recent Grammy nominations announced this week. Asked who she's rooting for, Keys started singing R&B star Frank Ocean's hit single "Thinking About You." "I'm so excited for him!" she said.

Padma Lakshmi, Bonnie Raitt, Gayle King and Keys's husband Swizz Beatz also hit the carpet before heading inside for the show, where guests dined on Moroccan lamb chops and steak tartare taquitos, crafted by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson.

Before taking the stage with Jennifer Hudson and Raitt, Keys gave the award to Winfrey, who had never been to the famous Harlem theatre. But it was during the auction, hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, that the singer got an offer she had to refuse.

One wealthy guest said he'd up his bid from $100,000 to $250,000 for a trip to South Africa – if Keys would join him and his friends. "I'll go for a little more," Keys quipped. – Janine Rayford

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Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.

Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year's Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they cheered and sparked up in unison.

A few dozen people gathered on a sidewalk outside the north Seattle headquarters of the annual Hempfest celebration and did the same, offering joints to reporters and blowing smoke into television news cameras.

"I feel like a kid in a candy store!" shouted Hempfest volunteer Darby Hageman. "It's all becoming real now!"

Washington and Colorado became the first states to vote to decriminalize and regulate the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana by adults over 21. Both measures call for setting up state licensing schemes for pot growers, processors and retail stores. Colorado's law is set to take effect by Jan. 5.

Technically, Washington's new marijuana law still forbids smoking pot in public, which remains punishable by a fine, like drinking in public. But pot fans wanted a party, and Seattle police weren't about to write them any tickets.

In another sweeping change for Washington, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday signed into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage. The state joins several others that allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.

The mood was festive in Seattle as dozens of gay and lesbian couples got in line to pick up marriage licenses at the King County auditor's office early Thursday.

King County and Thurston County announced they would open their auditors' offices shortly after midnight Wednesday to accommodate those who wanted to be among the first to get their licenses.

Kelly Middleton and her partner Amanda Dollente got in line at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Hours later, as the line grew, volunteers distributed roses and a group of men and women serenaded the waiting line to the tune of "Chapel of Love."

Because the state has a three-day waiting period, the earliest that weddings can take place is Sunday.

In dealing with marijuana, the Seattle Police Department told its 1,300 officers on Wednesday, just before legalization took hold, that until further notice they shall not issue citations for public marijuana use.

Officers will be advising people not to smoke in public, police spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee wrote on the SPD Blotter. "The police department believes that, under state law, you may responsibly get baked, order some pizzas and enjoy a 'Lord of the Rings' marathon in the privacy of your own home, if you want to."

He offered a catchy new directive referring to the film "The Big Lebowski," popular with many marijuana fans: "The Dude abides, and says 'take it inside!'"

"This is a big day because all our lives we've been living under the iron curtain of prohibition," said Hempfest director Vivian McPeak. "The whole world sees that prohibition just took a body blow."

Washington's new law decriminalizes possession of up to an ounce for those over 21, but for now selling marijuana remains illegal. I-502 gives the state a year to come up with a system of state-licensed growers, processors and retail stores, with the marijuana taxed 25 percent at each stage. Analysts have estimated that a legal pot market could bring Washington hundreds of millions of dollars a year in new tax revenue for schools, health care and basic government functions.

But marijuana remains illegal under federal law. That means federal agents can still arrest people for it, and it's banned from federal properties, including military bases and national parks.

The Justice Department has not said whether it will sue to try to block the regulatory schemes in Washington and Colorado from taking effect.

"The department's responsibility to enforce the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged," said a statement issued Wednesday by the Seattle U.S. attorney's office. "Neither states nor the executive branch can nullify a statute passed by Congress."

The legal question is whether the establishment of a regulated marijuana market would "frustrate the purpose" of the federal pot prohibition, and many constitutional law scholars say it very likely would.

That leaves the political question of whether the administration wants to try to block the regulatory system, even though it would remain legal to possess up to an ounce of marijuana.

Alison Holcomb is the drug policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and served as the campaign manager for New Approach Washington, which led the legalization drive. She said the voters clearly showed they're done with marijuana prohibition.

"New Approach Washington sponsors and the ACLU look forward to working with state and federal officials and to ensure the law is fully and fairly implemented," she said.

___

Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle

Read More..

Soccer coach who molested boys 'a vulture,' judge says

This post has been corrected. See note at bottom for details.

An Anaheim man who worked as a soccer coach and martial arts instructor was sentenced to 298 years in prison Thursday for sexually assaulting 11 of his young students, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Luis Alberto Pineda, 31, was convicted last month of committing forcible sodomy and other lewd acts on children and teen-agers whom he met through his coaching jobs, the district attorney’s office said.

Pineda was an assistant instructor at Moo Yea Do Martial Arts in Fullerton between 2005 and 2010, and coached in the North Orange County Youth Soccer Premier League, the D.A. said.

Authorities said Pineda befriended his victims’ parents and won their trust, and sexually assaulted the children after games and practices, during outings to dinner or movies, and while driving them home from soccer or karate class.

“Rats don’t do this to their children,” Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard King said in imposing a sentence of 298 years to life in state prison. “Vultures don’t do this to their children.”

[For the Record, Dec. 6, 1:55 p.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said that Luis Pineda was sentenced to 285 years in prison. He was sentenced to 298 years.]

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-- Christopher Goffard

Photo: Luis Alberto Pineda. Credit: Orange County district attorney's office

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IHT Rendezvous: Trust Women Conference: A Delegate's Reflections

LONDON — The first Trust Women conference, hosted by Thomson Reuters Foundation and the International Herald Tribune in London this week, boasted an impressive line up of speakers — from Melanne Verveer, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues to Christy Turlington Burns of Every Mother Counts to Queen Noor of Jordan, to name a few.

The conference confronted difficult subjects like modern-day slavery, the role of women after the Arab Spring, child marriage, corruption and development. The opening speech was delivered by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi by video.

When she was small, she said, growing up with her widowed mother, she thought women ruled the world. The Burmese politician, the second woman in history to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, said she couldn’t empathize more with the title of the conference “Trust Women.” “We women have to learn to trust ourselves much more than society has perhaps allowed us to do,” she said.

Sessions on how to change laws, enforce existing laws and change mindsets to empower women led inevitably to discussion of the role women themselves play in passing their predicament on to future generations. Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian lawyer and human rights activist featured in my film “Lili’s Journey,” said, “Men are children of women, they are raised by women, and often these notions of patriarchy are carried from generation to generation even more fiercely by the women themselves.”

Dr. Ebadi, also a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has set out with volunteers to collect one million signatures in Iran to address the gender discrimination laws in the country’s constitution. “The aim is not to simply gather these million signatures, but to engage the entire society so that they themselves can be the change from within.”

“We tell them useful facts, unbeknownst to many like: Did you know that in an accident, the law dictates that compensation for your male counterpart will be twice the amount of yours?”

Nazir Afzal, Britain’s chief crown prosecutor for the northwest, told the conference that he was on a drive to bring those guilty of “the organized crime that is honor killing” to justice.

Most shockingly, he explained to the audience that a missing underage girl in Britain who is forced into marriage and sent back to her parents’ native country is not protected by the laws of the Western country in which she was born.

He noted of such girls, “Nobody looks for them when they go missing. When your own family is at the origin of the harm that is being done to you, there is no one else to ring the alarm bell for them.”

Home-grown grass-roots action and leadership is needed to change some of these vast issues in different cultures, which are intrinsically linked to strong traditions.
And while the concept of the “white savior complex” crossed a few minds at the conference, it was very obvious that the activists represented today need support but are deemed best placed to know how far to stretch their own communities, challenging their own specific circumstances and heritage.

They are not expecting anybody else to do it for them. Mabel van Oranje, senior adviser to the group of global leaders known as The Elders, said, for instance, that “in the African countries where we are active, we are often told to keep our nose out, but the word of Desmond Tutu, the word of Kofi Annan is highly respected … to
them, it is the voice that comes from within” Africa.

The panel on the role of women and the Arab Spring brought out some of these perspectives. When the journalist Katrin Bennhold of the International Herald Tribune asked the panel of women from Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Egypt whether they perceive Western women to be charging around with notions of what is best for them, the answer was rather candid.

“We are not here to import Western laws,” said Alaa Murabit, the founder of Voice of Libyan Women. Then she added, “We need a more accurate interpretation of the Shariah law to establish our new constitution.”

The comment upset an Iranian delegate who begged for clarification on what exactly it meant for women to be subjected to Shariah. What is the provision for women in a correct interpretation of Shariah law when it comes to gender equality, access to your children and to financial independence? The outburst threw a lot of questions into the air. They remained unanswered.

Personally, since producing my film, “Lili’s Journey,” on women’s empowerment, I am compelled by the topic of public-private partnerships to achieve some of the important development goals broached during the conference.

At the end of a two-day meeting that created dozens of new connections, fresh stories and much determination to act, Emma Bonino took the stage — epitomizing all that energy, and vowing to take it to Yangon, where she plans to spend time over the Christmas holidays with Aung San Suu Kyi. Who knows, she speculated, perhaps we can go there next year?

Noting that much of the conference had dwelled on how to empower women and get things moving in Africa, Asia or the Middle East, Emma reminded everyone in no uncertain fashion that ”we in Europe still have a very, very long way to go.”

The latest example, she said, was the failure to get a woman on to the board of the European Central Bank. Comparing the many struggles faced by women today to one of her first campaigns — to legalize abortion in Italy in the 1970s — she urged everyone present to stay focused, and to fight for laws because they do make a difference. They are the first step to ensuring that achievements are ”set in stone,” so ”that there is no going back,” she insisted, recalling the joy she had felt when abortion was allowed in Italy, that she was no longer someone campaigning for something illegal, but working to make something that was legal work well.

Activists should remember, she added, that it is important to ask governments, politicians and other individuals and institutions to do their social duty. ”We must pretend that institutions are capable of reacting to the needs of people,” she said. ”We must mob them….The more we leave them alone, the happier they are!”

---

Laetitia Belmadani is a Paris-based writer and film director.

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Michelle Obama's Grammy Nod: The Beekeeper Gets Credit, Too!, She Says

By Sandra Sobieraj Westfall

12/06/2012 at 05:45 PM EST

Her husband already has two Grammys on the shelf, but for First Lady Michelle Obama, her first nomination is still an honor – one for which she shares the credit.

Mrs. Obama, who is nominated in the spoken-word category for her book American Grown, says in a statement to PEOPLE: "This nomination is such an honor not just for me, but for everybody who contributed to the garden and the audio book, from the National Parks Service employees to our White House chefs to our beekeeper."

The book – part gardening how-to, part cookbook, part White House history – is, "So close to my heart because it tells the story of our White House Kitchen Garden and gardens all around the country," she says, "as well as what Americans are doing to make sure our kids are growing up healthy."

No official word on whether Mrs. Obama will attend the glittery music-awards ceremony in February (her husband never did; neither did Hillary or Bill Clinton when their audiobooks won), but the First Lady says she hopes the nomination alone "keeps the conversation going about how we can all work together to ensure a healthy future for all our nation's children."

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Celebrations planned as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — Legal marijuana possession becomes a reality under Washington state law on Thursday, and some people planned to celebrate the new law by breaking it.

Voters in Washington and Colorado last month made those the first states to decriminalize and regulate the recreational use of marijuana. Washington's law takes effect Thursday and allows adults to have up to an ounce of pot — but it bans public use of marijuana, which is punishable by a fine, just like drinking in public.

Nevertheless, some people planned to gather at 12:01 a.m. PST Thursday to smoke in public beneath Seattle's Space Needle. Others planned a midnight party outside the Seattle headquarters of Hempfest, the 21-year-old festival that attracts tens of thousands of pot fans every summer.

"This is a big day because all our lives we've been living under the iron curtain of prohibition," said Hempfest director Vivian McPeak. "The whole world sees that prohibition just took a body blow."

In another sweeping change for Washington, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday signed into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage. The state joins several others that allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.

That law also takes effect Thursday, when gay and lesbian couples can start picking up their wedding certificates and licenses at county auditors' offices. Those offices in King County, the state's largest and home to Seattle, and Thurston County, home to the state capital of Olympia, planned to open the earliest, at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, to start issuing marriage licenses. Because the state has a three-day waiting period, the earliest that weddings can take place is Sunday.

The Seattle Police Department provided this public marijuana use enforcement guidance to its officers via email Wednesday night: "Until further notice, officers shall not take any enforcement action — other than to issue a verbal warning — for a violation of Initiative 502."

Thanks to a 2003 law, marijuana enforcement remains the department's lowest priority. Even before I-502 passed on Nov. 6, police rarely busted people at Hempfest, despite widespread pot use, and the city attorney here doesn't prosecute people for having small amounts of marijuana.

Officers will be advising people to take their weed inside, police spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee wrote on the SPD Blotter. "The police department believes that, under state law, you may responsibly get baked, order some pizzas and enjoy a 'Lord of the Rings' marathon in the privacy of your own home, if you want to."

Washington's new law decriminalizes possession of up to an ounce for those over 21, but for now selling marijuana remains illegal. I-502 gives the state a year to come up with a system of state-licensed growers, processors and retail stores, with the marijuana taxed 25 percent at each stage. Analysts have estimated that a legal pot market could bring Washington hundreds of millions of dollars a year in new tax revenue for schools, health care and basic government functions.

But marijuana remains illegal under federal law. That means federal agents can still arrest people for it, and it's banned from federal properties, including military bases and national parks.

The Justice Department has not said whether it will sue to try to block the regulatory schemes in Washington and Colorado from taking effect.

"The department's responsibility to enforce the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged," said a statement issued Wednesday by the Seattle U.S. attorney's office. "Neither states nor the executive branch can nullify a statute passed by Congress" — a non-issue, since the measures passed in Washington and Colorado don't "nullify" federal law, which federal agents remain free to enforce.

The legal question is whether the establishment of a regulated marijuana market would "frustrate the purpose" of the federal pot prohibition, and many constitutional law scholars say it very likely would.

That leaves the political question of whether the administration wants to try to block the regulatory system, even though it would remain legal to possess up to an ounce of marijuana.

Colorado's measure, as far as decriminalizing possession goes, is set to take effect by Jan. 5. That state's regulatory scheme is due to be up and running by October 2013.

___(equals)

Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle

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Church volunteer had sex with kids he met at church school, police allege

A well-known Orange County church has been roiled by allegations that a volunteer sexually assaulted children.

A Sunday school volunteer at Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa
allegedly formed relationships with children in his church and went on
to sexually abuse at least one of them multiple times between November
2009 and November 2011, according to church leaders and court documents.

Two families at Rock Harbor came forward with new allegations
against Christopher Bryan McKenzie, the pool cleaner accused of
years-long sexual relationships with at least three children younger
than 14, pastors said Monday night.

McKenzie, 48, of Costa Mesa, attended Rock Harbor and applied to be a
child-care volunteer at the 3,000-member campus in late 2007,
Communications Director Jeff Gideon said.

On Saturday, Newport Beach police announced
they had arrested McKenzie on suspicion of sexually abusing two boys,
one from the late 1990s to 2005 and one from 2005 to 2007. Neither had
ties to the church, police said.

At a Monday night meeting, Rock Harbor pastors announced two families from the congregation added allegations against McKenzie.

Lead Pastor Todd Proctor said the families approached Rock Harbor leadership after the announcement and were directed to police.

It's alleged McKenzie had substantial sexual conduct with one of the
children on at least three occasions, according to court documents.

In total, McKenzie is charged with inappropriate interaction with
four children. The fourth, who pastors said is also from Rock Harbor,
was allegedly used to distribute obscene material.

Pastors told congregants Monday that they don't believe McKenzie had
inappropriate contact with any children at the church or during a church
function. Volunteers are never allowed to be alone with children,
Proctor said.

However, he said, leaders believe McKenzie most likely met the
children and formed relationships with their parents at Rock Harbor
where he volunteered in a fifth-grade classroom for about five years.

At Rock Harbor, all child-care applicants are background checked,
screened on the Megan's Law website, must produce references and are
interviewed, leaders said.

McKenzie pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of
alcohol in 2007. Gideon said the team conducting a background check was
not informed of the incident. If a crime does appear on a volunteer’s
application, a committee weighs the severity and how much time has
elapsed, Gideon said.

McKenzie was ultimately granted approval to volunteer.

"Our kids probably had different levels of interaction with Chris,
and we need to recognize that," Proctor said, adding that he had spoken
to each of his three boys about the allegations. "One of my sons in
particular had way more exposure under Chris' leadership."

Throughout the meeting, pastors repeatedly encouraged parents to talk
to their children and contact police if they believe something
inappropriate occurred.

"It's all heartbreaking," Proctor said.

McKenzie was charged with 10 felony counts of lewd acts upon a child
younger than 14, four felony counts of using a minor for the
distribution of obscene matter, and two felony counts of distributing
pornography to a minor with sentencing enhancements for substantial
sexual conduct with a child and committing lewd acts upon a child
younger than 14 against more than one victim.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 45 years to life in state prison. He is being held on $1-million bail.

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Photo: Christopher Bryan McKenzie. Credit: Daily Pilot

Read More..