Today, The Seattle Times published an editorial stating that Washington state House Bill 1550, a law that would legalize and tax marijuana in the state deserved a hearing in the house Ways and Means Committee.
This comes just one week after the paper -- the largest daily in the state of Washington -- published another editorial last Friday that made a level-headed, reasonable case for ending marijuana prohibition in the state. Among other reasons, the editorial says that legalization could yield as much as $300 in tax revenue each year.
Why are these editorials significant? Well, The Seattle Times is hardly a radical publication. In fact, it's the publication of record for that state and reflects what appears to be a changing attitude toward marijuana amongst the general population (not just certain subcultures) in our region.
There's a good chance nothing becomes of this bill, but it should nonetheless be interesting to keep an eye on Washington in the coming months.
