It’s been five months since the first wave of implementation went into effect for Initiative 502, making recreational marijuana legal in Washington state. And yet, from the average citizen’s perspective, things have hardly changed.

While Dec. 2012 saw legalization of the possession of one ounce of plant marijuana — and its equivalent quantities for edible and fluid forms — the state Liquor Control Board is still in the middle of the rule making process for the commercial market. According to the most recent board timeline, draft rules will be sent to stakeholders in the middle of May.

Local agencies have remained in the thick of it. The city councils of Bonney Lake and Sumner voted to zone out all marijuana merchants shortly after the initiative’s passage; both had already done the same for collective gardens subject to the separate medical marijuana laws, citing the continued disconnect between state and federal law.

Police agencies have ceased arrests for simple possession, though Bonney Lake police reports have recorded occasional arrests of people with outstanding court warrants for possession.

The Sumner/Bonney Lake Communities For Families Coalition hired former prosecutor and anti-drug speaker Monte Stiles for the 2013 Community Summit’s keynote speech. S.T.A.R.R. Project Director Marilee Hill-Anderson, promoting the Summit at city council and school board meetings, was outspoken in her belief that 502 is or will become harmful to children. Though the law restricts possession to people 21 and older, she is concerned about a generation growing up to believe smoking isn’t harmful, she said in an interview after the Summit.

Sumner School District itself has remained neutral, though Communications Director Ann Cook reported officials were reviewing relevant legal questions the law has raised. For example, what’s the district’s due diligence if a parent shows up to a school event under the influence?

The Courier-Herald will be exploring the above issues and more in an upcoming series about local responses to 502.

Now we want to hear from you.

Beginning May 1, we will solicit reader responses to The Great Plateau Pot Survey on our website and Facebook. The survey is an anonymous questionnaire designed to obtain a snapshot of readers’ attitudes, knowledge and habits when it comes to that little green plant and the big laws that control it. Our hope is to receive 500 responses from people of all ages and backgrounds.

And while we’ll have no information about who’s filling out the survey, there will be an optional contact information box at the end for anyone who would like to contribute to our series in a more direct way.

So keep an eye on blscourierherald.com for regularly appearing links to The Great Plateau Pot Survey.

Make no mistake: wherever your personal views lay, the recreational marijuana laws in Washington and Colorado have made 2013 a landmark year in American history. We’re excited to discover where local popular opinions lay.