‘Seattle’s Hempfest Draws High Attendance’ snickers the AP headline. It’s true, tens of thousands of revelers have gathered again for the 22nd year of the summer “Protestival” held on the Seattle waterfront. This year is different of course, as it is the first year – in our lifetimes, that smoking pot openly is legal.
This brings us to ‘Operation Orange Fingers,’ an attempt by the Seattle P.D. to “Create a buzz” regarding the legality of the new pot law, I-502.
The cops put their creative heads together and printed all of the legal ins and outs of the law on the back of Dorito bags, describing it as a “fun quirky and ironic” way of disseminating the information. With only 1,000 printed bags, it sounds as if they underestimated the size of the crowd. Fortunately the information is also available on the Seattle Police Department website, where you’d be well advised to take a look at some peculiar loopholes in the new law, which isn’t entirely set in stone yet.
Oh sure, it’s all sweetness and light when they hand you a free bag of chips, but police are stationed outside the venue to catch anyone who might be attempting to drive, fly or float home while intoxicated.