Nearly 900 of you watched Seattle Speaks about marijuana policy live online last night. 120 of you were there in person at Town Hall. And over 400 emailed, commented or participated in online polls before and during the show. Did you tune in? If not - never fear - it's not too late to learn more, connect and take action on this issue!

Follow this link to watch the show:
http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=3381001

moderator C.R. Douglas kicks off the show.

Learn more, connect and take action*:
ACLU of Washington | www.aclu-wa.org
Casey Family Program | www.casey.org
Cannabis Defense Coalition | www.cdc.coop
The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation | www.thc-foundation.com/Washington
King County Bar Association Drug Policy Project | www.kcba.org/druglaw
LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) | www.leap.cc
The Matt Talbot New Hope Recovery Center | www.mtcenter.org
NORML | www.norml.org
Ryan’s Solution Foundation | www.ryanssolution.com
SAMA (Science and Management of Addictions) Foundation | www.samafoundation.org
Seattle Hempfest | www.hempfest.org
Sensible Washington I-1068 | www.sensiblewashington.org
Southwest Youth and Family Services | www.swyfs.org
Washington State Department of Health | www.doh.wa.gov/hsqa/medical-marijuana/
YMCA of Greater Seattle | www.seattleymca.org

*This listing is not exhaustive. We encourage you to get involved and learn more.

What do you think?

Tracking audience opinion during the show.

Do you favor the legalization of marijuana in Washington for adults? Do you think it's addictive? Are there other concerns or benefits we should know about? Do you know of resources we haven't listed above that others might find helpful?

"Seattle Speaks: Marijuana Policy" is just around the corner - Wednesday, May 19!

Over 80 of you have already responded to our pre-poll about marijuana policy in Washington State - thank you! If you haven't, click here to let us know what you think.

You can also share your comments - visit Seattle Channel's Seattle Speaks page and click on "comments" to leave your thoughts or questions. This page will be up during the program as well, so you can leave your reactions to what's been said by our live studio audience.

We'll see you Wednesday night at Town Hall!

One of the most exciting new forms of programming CityClub is working on is a collaboration with Seattle Channel and Town Hall called Seattle Speaks. You may remember the launch of Seattle Speaks last fall - a fantastic conversation on youth violence, in which many youth participated. (Visit Seattle Channel's webpage for the event for video, poll results, and more!)

So what makes this program so exciting? Well, first of all, it's live and interactive. Even if you're not in the seats at Town Hall, you can watch and participate in real time - it's on television and online.

We also use your advance feedback, via pre-polling, as part of the program. Our next Seattle Speaks happens on Wednesday, May 19, and pre-polling is happening now. The topic? Marijuana policy in Washington State. And boy do we have questions: How do you think we should regulate marijuana? Do you think there are public safety concerns associated with decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana? Are these offset by the lowered costs from reduced enforcement and potential new money from tax collections? Signatures are currently being collected for a possible ballot initiative in the fall that would remove criminal penalties from the adult possession, cultivation and use - medical or otherwise - of marijuana. Will you sign it?

In addition to our pre-poll, Seattle Channel's website has a space for leaving comments about your thoughts on marijuana policy.

And my final thought on why this is exciting: it's free to attend. However, there really are only so many chairs in the room, so if you want to be in the audience at Town Hall, register now!

Raise your hand if you're in the office today! The workforce here is small but mighty. Our office will be closed the rest of the week for Thanksgiving (back on Monday, November 30) but before we take off, I wanted to make sure to share a few little nuggets of information:

• Seattle Speaks! The Seattle Channel has launched a great website as follow-up to the Youth Violence program CityClub, Seattle Channel and Town Hall hosted on November 10. The website includes information about the show, a little background on the youth violence issue, poll results (collected both before and during the program), comments sent to Seattle Channel as the program was airing live, and links to learn more and get involved. Click here to check it out!  Also, video is now available online as well! To skip straight to that, click here.

• 2010 Jefferson Awards! It's full steam ahead for CityClub on this front, and we're working hard, alongside new media partner KING 5, to bring it together! Nominations for the 2010 Washington State Jefferson Awards will be opened in January 2010 on KING5’s Evening Magazine, Northwest Cable News, KING5.com and SeattleCityClub.org. Nominations are open to everyone in our state. So take a look around at the inspiring, involved people in your neighborhoods and consider nominating them for the Jefferson Awards. Our community is full of everyday heroes! (Never heard of the awards? Not sure how to nominate? Until we're ready to launch online, you can find information on JeffersonAwards.org.

We're looking forward to finishing off the year at our annual Year in Review program -- but first, we're looking forward to a four day weekend. Everyone have a great holiday!

Question seven! We managed to squeeze a lot of questions and a lot of discussion into our 90 minute "Seattle Speaks: Youth Violence" program with Seattle Channel on Tuesday night - but we missed question seven.

Now, we need you to weigh in. What new  voice could add the most to this conversation? Answer now!

Although streaming video is not yet available for this program, here are the upcoming air dates and times for the program on Seattle Channel Cable 21:

Yes, the rumor is true: our Youth Violence program with Seattle Channel at Town Hall tonight is sold out. The interactivity of the event involves electronic voting machines - and there are only so many to go around.

However, not being in the live audience does not mean you can't participate. We've heard of several "viewing parties" - organizations getting youth together in a place where they can participate online.

All of the questions our host, C.R. Douglas, asks our live audience, will also be posed to online participants as well. This program is being broadcast live and online - meaning you can stream it real-time at www.SeattleChannel.org or on Cable 21.

This program is called "Seattle Speaks" for a reason. Your thought counts! We want to know what you think about youth violence in Seattle. The Seattle Channel can also take questions from online participants - check their website to find out how. ("Youth Violence" is on the front page of their website.) Please join us! (And, since it'll probably be raining, you can go home, snuggle up in your pajamas with a hot beverage, and still be engaged online!)

7:00 p.m. is our start time, and as always, we'll see what we can tweet over at @CityClubLive.