Pubdate: Thu, 17 Sep 2015
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Vancouver Courier
Contact:  http://www.vancourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474
Author: Mike Howell

CITY POLITICIANS GET POT TALK ON WASHINGTON STATE EXPERIENCE

Imagine the B.C. government going out on its own and creating a system
within the province that taxes and regulates the use of recreational
marijuana, without approval from the federal government.

That's a thought that came up in conversation with Tonia Winchester of
Seattle who helped lead the campaign in 2012 to have marijuana
legalized in Washington State. As the outreach director for New
Approach Washington, the former prosecutor was a member of a coalition
of citizens that fought successfully to allow adults 21 and over to
legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use.

That experience in promoting Initiative 502 is what Winchester will
share when she speaks at a session Sept. 21 on the legalization of
marijuana at the Union of B.C. Municipalities' annual conference in
Vancouver.

But does she really believe B.C. could go it alone?

"I understand that's kind of a little more risque or challenging but
people said the same thing about Initiative 502 when it was on the
ballot in 2012 - that we can't go against this, it's still federally
illegal," said Winchester by telephone from Seattle. "But we've seen
the federal government take a stand back and say that as long as
you're operating within the structure of a legal system within the
state, we're going to stay out of this because we have larger fish to
fry."

Winchester acknowledged the difference between Canadian and U.S.
government structures but is aware of Canada's allowances for medical
marijuana use. In fact, Winchester spent six months in Nanaimo to
oversee the development of the federal government-approved Tilray
medicinal marijuana production facility. Privateer Holdings is
Tilray's parent company, and Winchester was the person responsible for
submitting and obtaining the facility's licence in March 2014 from
Health Canada.

Winchester's visit to Vancouver comes as the City of Vancouver is
processing 176 applications from people who want to obtain business
licences to operate - or continue operating - illegal marijuana
dispensaries. The city's goal is to regulate dispensaries and set
strict guidelines for operation but leave the regulation of marijuana
to the federal government.

She called the city's move "very bold" and said municipalities and
provincial governments have to initiate change on the marijuana front
in the absence of any progressive action from the federal government.

As a prosecutor in Seattle and Wenatchee, Winchester prosecuted people
for marijuana possession. But, she said, it didn't take long for her
to realize marijuana laws were too harsh and police resources could be
better used to fight more serious crimes.

"I remember telling myself as I was signing complaints to be filed
that if I could change these laws, I would," said Winchester, noting
she left her job to work with New Approach Washington on the campaign
to legalize marijuana. She is now self-employed as a consultant. In
Washington State, the marijuana industry is overseen by a liquor and
cannabis control board, which produces regular public statistics on
businesses, including a list of stores and applications from potential
operators. Statistics for July and August show sales of $100,892,091,
which generated $24,582,848 in excise taxes.

When the new law came into effect, the board set a maximum of 334
licences for retail outlets in Washington State but set no limit on
the number of producer and processor licences, although applicants
were only given a 30-day window to apply.

Seattle has 19 stores allowed to sell marijuana for recreational use.
And, so far, they aren't generating the complaints of so-called
medicinal marijuana shops that opened in the wake of Initiative 502.
Seattle grew from 45 of these shops to more than 100 in two years.

"With the licensed stores and the licensed growers, there's been
little to no concern about the way they're running their businesses,
or how they're impacting communities," said David Mendoza, a policy
advisor to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, who helped design and implement a
package of marijuana-related bills to regulate marijuana. "But the
grey [area] market has metastasized and that's where we're getting the
complaints."

The complaints include operators selling to minors, people smoking
outside, the pungent smell of cannabis and increases in break-ins to
vehicles in neighbourhoods with the shops. Seattle is working on
bringing in more stringent rules that would see about 50 of these
shops shut down. Others that opened prior to January 2013 received
exemptions, pending they follow a set of new regulations.

"Next year, by July of 2016, the medical marijuana is supposed to be
folded into the recreational and we've had legislation to ease that
transition that passed earlier this summer," said Mendoza,
anticipating Seattle could eventually have about 60 fully regulated
marijuana shops.

Now that Washington State has legalized marijuana and Alaska did the
same earlier this year, the fact that B.C. is sandwiched between the
two pot-friendly states is not lost on Winchester or her friends.

"I've heard more from my Canadian friends who are disappointed and say
that Canada has always been known for being more progressive, and yet
here we have Alaska and Washington beating B.C. in this movement," she
said. "I don't know if any Americans are thinking it's a bragging
right but I definitely think it's a question for B.C. to be thinking
about because you guys have always been so far ahead of the curve."
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MAP posted-by: Matt