Early Hempfests "featured blatant marijuana smoking"; 60 people were cited for illegal marijuana use at the 1997 Hempfest, and about 20 were arrested the following year. Eventually Hempfest and the police reached a "modus vivendi": there was only one arrest in 2001. About this time, the director was Dominic Holden, who was also campaign manager of an organization trying to make cannabis the city of Seattle's lowest law enforcement priority through a voter initiative, . The political context surrounding marijuana in Seattle and Washington has changed considerably over the years. Washington legalized medical marijuana in 1998. In 2003, Seattle passed I-75.