WA GOP Senate Candidate Backs Marijuana Initiative

OLYMPIA, Wash. (Metro) -- Washington State Senator Michael Baumgartner, a Republican who's challenging Democrat Maria Cantwell for her seat in the U.S. Senate, announces his support for a statewide initiative to legalize the sale and taxation of marijuana.

Baumgartner says criminalization of marijuana for adults only increases cash flow for traffickers and drains law enforcement of valuable resources as it fights the war on drugs.

Initiative 502, which will be on the November 6th ballot, would legalize the sale of marijuana for people 21 and older in Washington.

A Cantwell campaign spokesperson says the senator supports the state's medical marijuana laws but opposes legalization for recreational use.

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