Tag: washington

Washington Bill Would Legalize Psilocybin Despite Federal Prohibition

A bill filed in the Washington State Senate would legalize the use of psilocybin, setting the stage to nullify federal prohibition of the same in practice and effect.

A coalition of senators led by Sen. Jesse Salomon (D) filed Senate Bill 5263 (SB5263) on Jan. 11. The legislation would amend existing state law by allowing the use of psilocybin for adults over the age of 21. The bill would establish an advisory board for the purposes of a 2-year program development period, ultimately leading to the licensing and regulation of psilocybin manufacturing and sales.

Psilocybin, often referred to as “magic mushrooms,” is a hallucinogenic compound found in certain mushrooms. A number of studies have shown psilocybin to be effective in the treatment of depression, PTSD, chronic pain and addiction. For instance, a Johns Hopkins study found that “psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer.”

Efforts to legalize psilocybin in Washington State follow a successful ballot measure that decriminalized a number of drugs, including heroin and cocaine in Oregon. In 2022, Colorado voters passed a ballot measure decriminalizing several naturally occurring psychedelic substances. At least 14 cities including Detroit, Michigan have decriminalized “magic mushrooms.”

Psychedelic decriminalization and legalization efforts at the state and local levels are moving forward despite the federal government’s prohibition of psilocybin and other psychedelic substances.

Keep reading

Tacoma bible college linked to alleged ‘cult’ loses GI Bill approval after FBI raid

A Tacoma seminary program associated with a chain of churches raided by the FBI earlier this year has lost approval to receive federal Veterans Affairs education funds. Former members have described the chain as a cult that defrauds soldiers.

In late June, the FBI served search warrants at several House of Prayer Christian Church locations near military bases, mostly in the Southeast. A former church minister told The News Tribune the Tacoma location on South 54th Street was constructed in 2004 and targeted soldiers at nearby Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

A JBLM spokesperson told The News Tribune this summer the base was aware of the House of Prayer and referred questions to federal law enforcement. The FBI’s Seattle field office confirmed “court-authorized law enforcement activity” at the church but declined to provide additional details.

A spokesperson for the House of Prayer declined to comment on the investigation.

Current and former members have accused the House of Prayer of draining veterans’ GI Bill funds by perpetually enrolling them in bogus seminary classes and pressuring them to gain 100% VA disability then donate their benefits, according to an August 2020 report sent to the VA by the legal assistance nonprofit Veterans Education Success. In the report, members also accused the church of using their personal information and forging signatures to apply for VA home loans without their knowledge.

Keep reading

3 Power Substations Vandalized in Washington State as Thousands Lose Power

At least three power substations were vandalized on Christmas Day in Pierce County, Washington state, according to officials in an update that comes just weeks after another substation was vandalized in North Carolina.

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that one Tacoma Public Utilities substation was vandalized in Spanaway, located between Olympia and Tacoma, at around 5:30 a.m. local time on Dec. 25. Police said the incident led to power outages in the area.

A second Tacoma Public Utilities substation was vandalized a short time later, officials said. “Deputies arrived on scene and saw there was forced entry into the fenced area. Nothing had been taken from the substation, but the suspect vandalized the equipment causing a power outage in the area,” deputies wrote on Facebook.

Later on Dec. 25, at around 7 p.m., a Puget Sound Energy substation was vandalized after a fire was reported on-site, according to the sheriff’s office.

“The fire was extinguished and the substation secured. Power was knocked out for homes in Kapowsin and Graham. The suspect(s) gained access to the fenced area and vandalized the equipment which caused the fire,” Pierce County sheriff’s officials said. “There are no suspects in custody at this time.”

It added that “all law enforcement agencies in the county have been notified of the incidents and will be monitoring power substations in their area,” noting that “power has been restored to most of the affected homes.”

Keep reading

Biden Administration Approves Health Insurance for Illegal Immigrants in Washington State

The Biden administration has approved a waiver that will allow Washington state to offer health insurance to illegal immigrants.

The waiver, known as the “State Innovation Waiver” was submitted by the state in the spring and approved by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury Department on Dec. 9 under section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to officials.

Washington requested the waiver in an effort to expand residents’ access to qualified health plans, stand-alone qualified dental plans, as well as the state affordability program regardless of their immigration status.

“The waiver will help Washington work towards its goals of improving health equity and reducing racial disparities by expanding access to coverage for the uninsured population through the state Exchange, all the while not increasing costs for those currently enrolled,” the departments said (pdf).

Keep reading

Washington man who had explosives in underground bunker to spend 42 months in prison

A man living in Washington state will spend 42 months in prison for having guns and explosives inside an underground bunker beneath his house.

The man, 42-year-old James Wesley Bowden, was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle following his arrest in November 2021. The man was arrested after being involved in an altercation at his home that resulted in Bowden threatening another man with a gun, according to a statement from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

When officials responded to the initial report of the altercation, they discovered a room in the garage that officials likened to a “laboratory with various chemicals and equipment consistent with the manufacturing of homemade explosives.”

Once deputies secured the area from the explosives, they found a removable panel on the floor of the garage that led to an underground bunker, according to officials. Inside the bunker, officials found guns, ammunition, grenades, silencers, armor, and other equipment. Two of the weapons were altered to shoot as fully automatic machine guns, the DOJ said.

At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez, noted that Bowden’s drug addiction likely caused a substantial portion of his criminal conduct.

Keep reading

Washington Has Been Much More Successful Than California in Displacing the Black Market for Pot

A new report indicates that Washington, which legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, has been much more successful at displacing the black market than California, where voters approved legalization in 2016. In a 2021 survey by the International Cannabis Policy Study (ICPS), 77 percent of Washington cannabis consumers reported buying “any type of marijuana” from a “store, co-operative, or dispensary” in the previous year, while 17 percent said they had obtained pot from a “dealer.”

The share of Washington consumers who report buying marijuana from a “store, co-operative, or dispensary” is higher than the average for states that have legalized recreational use, which was 57 percent in 2021, according to a nationwide ICPS survey. Washington’s Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) paid for the ICPS report on cannabis consumption in that state, and the ICPS has not published California-specific survey data. But calculations based on estimated total consumption and legal sales suggest that the black market accounts for somewhere between two-thirds and three-quarters of marijuana purchased in California.

California’s striking failure to shift consumers from illegal to legal dealers is largely due to a combination of high taxes, onerous regulations, and local retailing bans. While Washington has a relatively high retail marijuana tax (37 percent, plus standard sales taxes), in other respects the state has made it easier for licensed suppliers to compete with illegal sources.

A 2022 study from Reason Foundation (which publishes Reason) notes that local restrictions in California have created “massive cannabis deserts” where “consumers have no access to a legal retailer within a reasonable distance of their home.” Washington has more than three times as many legal dispensaries per capita as California.

Keep reading

FAA directs UFO spotters to call Washington

Official FAA policy directs air traffic controllers wishing to report a UFO sighting to call the state of Washington, specifically the National UFO Reporting Center in Davenport.

Since 1974, the Center has fielded nearly 140,000 reports of UFO sightings from all of North America and overseas. On average, 15 sightings per day have been recorded for more than 20 years, nearly 7,000 from the Evergreen State.

Washington has the highest ratio of UFO sightings in the nation by population with 88 sightings per 100,000 residents. The earliest reports from Washingtonians date back some 70 years.

“It seems as though they started in 1945 over Hanford where they appeared over our nuclear facilities,” said Maurene Morgan of Port Townsend, according to The Leader. Morgan is state director for the Mutual UFO Network.

FAA “Order JO 7110.65Z – Air Traffic Control,” dictates procedures for the nation’s air traffic controllers. Chapter 9, Section 8 defines the procedure for reporting a UFO sighting: “Persons wanting to report UFO/unexplained phenomena activity should contact a UFO/ unexplained phenomena reporting data collection center, such as the National UFO Reporting Center, etc.”

The rule, which has an effective date of June 17, 2021, adds that if there’s any danger to life or property, the controller should call the police instead.

Keep reading

Lawmakers strike the word ‘marijuana’ from all state laws, calling term racist

“Pot,” “weed,” “grass,” “Mary Jane,” “flower” — there is no shortage of terms to describe cannabis. However, Washington state is taking one word officially off the table: “marijuana.”

Legislators recently passed a law that changes every Revised Code of Washington with the word “marijuana.” The change gets rid of the term, swapping it out for the word “cannabis.”

Supporters say the word “marijuana” has a long history of racism.

“The term ‘marijuana’ itself is pejorative and racist,” said Washington state Rep. Melanie Morgan during testimony in 2021. Morgan is a Democrat representing the 29th Legislative District and sponsored the bill — House Bill 1210. Morgan discussed the history of the word, which originates from Spanish.

“As recreational marijuana use became more popular, it was negatively associated with Mexican immigrants,” Morgan said.

Governor Jay Inslee signed the bill that passed unanimously into law March 11. The changes will take effect in June.

Keep reading

Washington State Is BANNING Non-Electric Cars by 2030

As 1984 gains a firmer grasp on the modern world, one recent bill has caused it to spread its reach even further: a bill inserted within Washington state’s $16.9 billion “Move Aside Ahead Washington” package. This new piece of paper, signed by Washington governor Jay Inslee on March 25, now makes it so that police will enforce all vehicles sold, purchased, or registered within the state to be electric vehicles by 2030.

Sec. 415. (1) A target is established for the state that all publicly owned and privately owned passenger and light-duty vehicles of model year 2030 or later that are sold, purchased, or registered in Washington state be electric vehicles.

(2) On or before December 31, 2023, the interagency electric vehicle coordinating council created in section 428 of this act shall complete a scoping plan for achieving the 2030 target.

According to Inslee, this bill will “create more efficient transportation options,” as he says that “Transportation is our state’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. There is no way to talk about climate change without talking about transportation.”

Inslee went on to add, “This package will move us away from the transportation system our grandparents imagined and towards the transportation system our grandchildren dream of.”

Keep reading

‘Pro-Free Speech’: Washington State Governor’s Plot to Criminalize Election Fraud Complaints Moves Forward

Candidates and elected officials complaining about election fraud would be slapped with a gross misdemeanor charge, fine, and/or jail sentence under a plan by Washington’s far-Left governor Jay Inslee. The anti-free speech bill has now advanced from a Democrat-controlled committee with a “do-pass” recommendation to the state legislature.

And you thought it couldn’t get worse.

In 2020, Democrat governors and their underlings used COVID-19 as the excuse to change election laws, many times using emergency powers sans legislature, expand mail-in balloting, and remove what few security measures remained, such as signature matching. Recently, a state court ruled that Pennsylvania election changes by fiat were illegal under the state constitution. These aren’t lies. They happened. They may have changed the results of the election. The take over of local elections offices by Mark Zuckerberg’s “Zuck Bucks” also continues to fuel complaints. But Washington’s Gov. Inslee believes people seeking or holding elective office who complain about election chicanery should be punished for holding those wrong-thoughts. They should be silenced and maybe even jailed for up to a year.

In Inslee’s bill, loudly complaining about election fraud that accused complainers knew was bogus, as adjudged by a “jury” according to the governor, could lead to violence. The person who uttered the words should go to jail, he reasons. Inslee has never said these words in response to the Antifa and BLM riots during the election of 2016 and 2017 to depose the democratically elected Donald Trump

Keep reading