Pubdate: Wed, 05 Aug 2015
Source: Seattle Weekly (WA)
Column: Higher Ground
Copyright: 2015 Village Voice Media
Contact: 
http://www.seattleweekly.com/feedback/EmailAnEmployee?department=letters
Website: http://www.seattleweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/410
Author: Michael A. Stusser

PATIENT PROTECTION ACT, MY ASS

How Recreational-Marijuana Legalization Is Screwing Medical-Marijuana Access.

Washington continues to take one step forward and seven steps back in 
our legalization experiment. With new laws rapidly eroding the 
voter-approved Medical Use of Marijuana Act of 1998, the cannabis 
community is deeply divided between the "haves" (recreational 
retailers, growers, and processors) and the "have-nots" 
(medical-marijuana patients and dispensaries). What does this grave 
new world look like?

No-Man's Land

Dispensaries and collective gardens are being shut down across 
Washington, leaving the state's estimated 175,000 medical patients to 
wonder how in the hell they're going to get their medicine. They 
aren't likely to find it at recreational stores, which have little 
incentive to sell medicinal items such as low-THC edibles, 
transdermal patches, topicals, or cannabis suppositories.

King County and the Seattle City Council have voted to begin shutting 
down "unlicensed" dispensaries, and are sending Cease and Desist 
orders to collectives. Dispensaries also have been notified that if 
they continue to operate as unlicensed retail outlets, they'll face 
civil and criminal ramifications. Problem is, there are no 
medical-dispensary licenses under 502, and currently no guidelines 
for them to apply. The official application period for 502 stores 
ended in December 2013, and no new applications for medicinal stores 
will be taken until next July. And until the (Liquor and) Cannabis 
Board approves these new applications, patients are stuck in the 
middle of a cannabis clusterfuck. In addition, dozens of counties and 
towns are banning legal marijuana stores in their jurisdictions, not 
only ignoring the will of the voters but denying access for those 
using medical cannabis.

Patient "Protection"

As noted previously in this column ("Marijuana Is Medicine," April 
29), Senate Bill 5052, signed into law by Governor Inslee in April, 
is a draconian piece of crap that will overhaul (aka eliminate) a 
medical system that was up and running long before recreational 
marijuana was even a seedling. Last week, part of the bill-which in 
an Orwellian twist has been deemed the Cannabis Patient Protection 
Act-went into effect with a slew of regressive rules, tailor-made to 
force longtime medical users into either taxable retail stores or 
back underground. The new law drastically cuts the number of plants a 
patient can have. No more than 15 plants can now be grown in a single 
housing unit, regardless of the number of patients or designated 
providers who reside there. This directly impacts thousands of 
patients who are unable to grow (or afford) marijuana themselves and 
belong to collective gardens, which previously allowed up to 45 
plants for 10 individuals. Many of these collectives also prepare 
edibles for patients who cannot smoke, as well as cannabis oils, 
balms, and tinctures for a wide variety of maladies.

No House Calls

Practitioners can no longer go to a patient's home or set up a 
location outside of their permanent office to evaluate, assess, or 
examine for a qualifying condition; this eliminates satellite 
clinics, which doctors often set up in rural areas where few health 
professionals were available to write authorizations for medial 
marijuana. (We'd hate for Grandma to get too comfortable and be 
evaluated for her Parkinson's or Crohn's disease anywhere near her 
home in Black Diamond.)

Feeding the Paranoia

Health-care practitioners can no longer run an office with the sole 
purpose of authorizing medical recommendations. (I mean, why have 
anyone specialize in the ailments that may be alleviated by 
cannabis?) If a health-care practitioner writes more than 30 
authorizations for medical marijuana in a single month, he or she 
must now report the number to the Washington Department of Health.

You don't have to be paranoid to be nervous about doctors handing 
over charts and records to various state boards and commissions which 
point out that their patients are committing felonies at the federal 
level. And the paranoia won't stop there. This particularly 
nerve-wracking requirement will be eliminated a year from now . . . 
when the new "voluntary" registry takes effect. You don't sign up-you 
get no tax break for medical weed.

The Budtender Is Not In

A final absurd nail: Medical patients, who will now need to get their 
cannabis from recreational outlets, will not be able to discuss 
medical solutions to their various ailments and illnesses with store 
budtenders. It's strictly against Liquor and Cannabis rules.

A Positive for Veterans

There was one positive outcome from Washington's legislative changes: 
Post-traumatic stress disorder is now one of the conditions that a 
medical provider can cite to authorize the use of marijuana.

Even this seeming no-brainer wasn't a shoo-in: Colorado's Board of 
Health recently rejected PTSD as a qualifying condition, saying they 
wanted further research, despite their own Colorado Scientific 
Advisory Council's recommendation that it be added.

Veterans have testified at the state and federal level in their 
efforts to allow cannabis to treat a variety of conditions 
ex-military personnel face, including depression, anxiety, insomnia, 
traumatic brain injuries, and pain relief. According to the 
Department of Veteran Affairs, an average of 22 veterans kill 
themselves every day. While the feds do not allow military personnel 
to use cannabis during their service or as part of post-service 
treatment plans through the Veterans Administration, if there are any 
ways to alleviate their suffering, we should obviously explore them. 
#SupportOurTroops

More regulations that will eliminate safe medical-marijuana access 
points take effect next July, including rules on licensing and 
product testing, collective garden requirements, and shutting down 
all current medical dispensaries and potentially licensing them as 
retail stores. Lawsuits and Initiatives to overturn both Initiative 
502 and portions of 5052 and stop the closure of medical dispensaries 
have been filed by the Association of Safe Access Points 
(saveaccesswa.com and asapwa.org), Real Legalization 
(reallegalization.org), and others. The Legalization Experiment 
clumsily continues.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom