Pubdate: Wed, 14 Aug 2013
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2013 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Bob Young

BOARD SEEKS ADDITIONAL TIME IN CRAFTING RULES FOR LEGAL POT

Regulations Due Today

Postponement Wins Praise; Members Want to Consider More Public Feedback

The Washington state Liquor Control Board staff is recommending that 
rules for a legal recreational-pot system be postponed while it takes 
additional time to consider public feedback.

Final rules were scheduled to be issued Wednesday by the agency, 
after approval by the three appointed board members. Agency spokesman 
Brian Smith said board members have indicated they're agreeable to the delay.

"What we're hearing is that no one is telling us to hurry up," Smith 
said of public feedback.

The delay would still allow the board to meet its required deadline 
of having rules in place by Dec. 1. It would push back licensing of 
new pot merchants by about two months.

Pot entrepreneur John Davis said he and others want more clarity in 
the rules for retail-store locations, especially around how to 
measure the 1,000-foot buffer between pot stores and venues, such as 
parks, frequented by youth. "It's better to be good than quick," 
Davis said of the delay.

Philip Dawdy, representing the Washington Cannabis Association, 
agreed, noting that the scarcity of potential store locations in 
Seattle and Tacoma was likely a concern for the legal system, which 
aims to undercut the black market and collect millions in tax 
revenues from state-sanctioned pot. "Ultimately, I think we'll end up 
with a better-quality product," Dawdy said.

Alison Holcomb, primary author of the law, said the liquor board's 
careful approach to rules is consistent with its actions to date.

Clarifying definitions, identifying the number and locations of 
retail stores, and limiting how much pot a licensee can have - called 
for by the new law - are some of the main revisions the board is 
looking at, Smith said.

Holcomb, criminal-justice director for the ACLU (American Civil 
Liberties Union) of Washington, has urged the board to set caps that 
create different tiers - small, medium and large - for licensees. 
Holcomb says such caps would allow smaller operations.

Her concern is that without such caps, economic forces would tend to 
favor large operations. Big marijuana companies would have the 
financial and political and marketing muscle to dilute rules and 
target young customers, Holcomb and others contend.

The state agency issued proposed rules July 3. It then took written 
public comments and held hearings last week around the state.

The revised schedule calls for the staff to come back to the board 
Sept. 4 with a new round of rules. If accepted, the board will begin 
a six week period of collecting more public input.

It would then vote to adopt the revised rules on Oct. 16 and they 
would become effective Nov. 16. The board would take license 
applications for 30 days, starting Nov. 18.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom