Pubdate: Sun, 09 Mar 2014
Source: Herald, The (Everett, WA)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.heraldnet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/190
Author: Lisa Baumann and Rachel La Corte, Associated Press

STATE SENATE PASSES NEW MEDICAL POT RULES

The Bill, Which Will Now Be Negotiated With the House, Would Cut the 
Number of Plants Patients Are Allowed and Establish a Registry to 
Exempt Patients From Sales Taxes.

OLYMPIA (AP) - A measure to overhaul the state's medical marijuana 
system cleared the Senate on Saturday as the state moves to merge 
that largely unregulated market with the still-developing legal 
recreational market.

Senate Bill 5887 passed on a 34-15 vote and now heads to the House, 
which passed a similar measure last month. Both chambers will now 
negotiate a final bill to reconcile the medical market with the 
recreational market approved by voters in the fall of 2012.

The changes under the bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Ann Rivers of 
La Center include reducing the amount of marijuana and the number of 
plants patients can possess, doing away with collective gardens and 
establishing a patient registry.

"The bill you have is a result of bicameral bipartisan effort," 
Rivers said, calling the measure a framework. "This is the very best 
attempt to protect our patients and their rights while making sure we 
meet Initiative 502 guidelines," which legalized the recreational use 
of marijuana.

At the end of 2012, Washington and Colorado became the first states 
to legalize possession of recreational marijuana by adults 21 and 
older. The voters also called for the establishment of systems of 
state-licensed pot growers, processors and retail stores.

Sales have already begun in Colorado, but licensed stores in 
Washington state aren't expected to open until this summer.

Washington has allowed the medical use of marijuana since 1998. The 
hundreds of dispensaries that currently exist are not regulated by 
the state, but they loosely operate under current state law on 
"collective gardens" that allows qualifying patients to pool their 
resources to grow, produce and deliver medical cannabis.

Lawmakers have worried that the largely unregulated medical system 
would undercut the taxed recreational industry established by 
Initiative 502. U.S. Justice Department officials have warned that 
the state's medical pot status quo is untenable.

Medical marijuana patients have flocked to public hearings on the 
issue in both the Senate and House in recent weeks, decrying the 
potential changes.

Under the measure that passed Saturday, collective gardens would be 
eliminated on Sept. 1, 2015, meaning that unless current dispensaries 
receive a license from the state, they will have to close. But under 
the measure that passed Saturday, patients and designated providers 
may form cooperative marijuana-growing operations of no more than 
four participants.

Rivers has said she's sympathetic to patients' concerns, but she's 
worried about what the federal government will do if the state 
doesn't make the changes.

"I believe we are doing a lot for our patients in this," Rivers said. 
"They were at front of mind when we were developing this bill."

Under her measure, the amount of cannabis patients can have would be 
cut from 24 ounces to 3 ounces. Under the recreational law, adults 
are allowed to have up to an ounce. The measures also limit the 
number of plants patients can grow to six. Under current regulations, 
they can grow 15.

Rivers' bill would allow a health professional to authorize an 
additional amount, but no more than eight ounces or 15 plants. Her 
measure would also allow additional amounts for marijuana-infused 
products like liquids and concentrates.

The measure permits stores to have a medical endorsement to sell 
medical as well as recreational marijuana and allows an option for 
endorsed retail stores to solely serve medical-marijuana patients. 
The bill requires the Liquor Control Board, which is overseeing 
implementation of Initiative 502, to consider the needs of patients 
in determining the number of retail licenses issued. Currently, the 
board has limited recreational retail licenses to 334 across the 
state, for which there are currently more than 2,000 applications.

The measure also allows patients with an authorization card to not 
pay sales and use tax at retail stores that have a medical marijuana 
endorsement. Patients with an authorization card are allowed to grow 
in their homes, something that recreational users are not allowed to 
do under Initiative 502.

Also under the bill, the state's Liquor Control Board would be 
renamed the Liquor and Cannabis Board.

Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, voted against the measure because he 
said no funding was included in the bill for local governments to 
work with the new regulations. "The only piece of the puzzle we 
missed is the revenue share," he said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom