[420 Girl]

Backers of an initiative to legalize marijuana launched their signature-gathering drive today.

Initiative 1068 would remove all criminal penalties for adults for growing, possessing and using marijuana. A bill that would have accomplished the same goal failed this year in the state Legislature.

Philip Dawdy, campaign director and a co-author of the measure, said the effort got started before lawmakers acted.

“On Jan. 1, I was sitting down with Doug Hiatt watching the Rose Bowl and we realized that there was no way the governor was going to sign it,” he said of the legalization bill. “It was time to take this to the people.”

He, Hiatt, Seattle Hempfest founder Vivian McPeak, longtime medical marijuana patient Ric Smith and Seattle attorney Jeffrey Steinborn drew up the language.

To qualify for the ballot, Sensible Washington, the organization formed to push the measure, needs to turn in 241,153 valid signatures of registered voters to the Secretary of State's Office on or before July 2. Dawdy said the goal is to gather 320,000 signatures.

This week, training of volunteers on how to properly fill up petition sheets was held in Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma. Dawdy said he hoped to conduct similar trainings in Snohomish County in the next couple weeks.

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