Legislature Under the 2012 Voter-Passed Initiative, Revenue From Marijuana Taxes Was to Go to Substance-Abuse Programs and Health Care. But That's Not Exactly What Lawmakers Have in Mind. The initiative approved by voters to legalize recreational marijuana included a specific shopping list for spending the tax revenue, but the state Legislature looks poised to tweak those instructions, or even lose them entirely. To the dismay of public-health officials, that could mean cutting millions in prevention and treatment funds intended to offset the costs to society of legalizing pot. [continues 947 words]
CUSTOMERS are getting smoked out of the Ding How Center in Seattle's Little Saigon neighborhood. While the city is looking into the matter, landlords must do more to protect their properties from bad disreputable medical-marijuana stores. Businesses, employees and patrons should not be constantly overwhelmed by the smell of marijuana. Two dispensaries are now located at 1207 South Jackson Street. Store owners say The Green Door is a good neighbor. But the other, Seattle Caregivers, has become a nuisance. [continues 522 words]
Taxes are too high, competition from medical marijuana is too great, and the bureaucracy is overwhelmed by the volume of applications. As Gary Mason reports, the new regulated system is giving rise to a robust black market Amber McGowan surveys the clutch of customers milling around the three counters in her tiny marijuana retail outlet and nods approvingly - pot is hot. Men and women who appear to be mostly over 50 consider products with names such as Headband, Skunk, Banana Kush and THC Bomb. A five-pack of oatmeal cookies that are nothing like the ones your mother used to make go for $42 (U.S.). Behind a glass enclosure there are bongs of every colour and description. Psychedelic renderings grace the store's wood-panelled walls. [continues 1749 words]
But That Could Change-If You Care About This Issue, Contact These Representatives in Olympia Right Now A few years ago, my friends Monica and Nate got ahold of a few marijuana cuttings, also known as "clones," and planted them in their backyards. Neither of their plants grew into the towering, gawky, bamboo-like stalks you see in stock news photos of professional marijuana grows. Monica pruned hers to grow smaller and bushier, less conspicuous, almost ornamental-the bonsai of marijuana. They were stupidly easy to grow, both said, no more difficult than tomatoes or basil. One year, the wind knocked over Monica's pot planters, breaking one and crunching lots of the stems-but they hurtled back to life. [continues 2092 words]
Spring has sprung, and it's finally time to strap on the running shoes and get stoned out of your mind! There's no doubt that marijuana is good for all kinds of things: stimulating the appetite, creative brainstorming, giggle-fests . . . but exercise? Yes, apparently. According to an article in last month's Runner's World, athletes who use cannabis benefit from stress relief and reduced inflammation. Now I'm no marathoner, but I do understand the pain and nausea that kind of grind might cause; hell, I "hit the wall" on walks from Starbucks to the car. And long-distance runners are now claiming that the pain relief associated with marijuana is also a huge benefit for their grueling efforts, helping athletes achieve an idealized state earlier in their run. [continues 713 words]
MY son Haiden is 6 years old. For him, access to medical cannabis is a matter of life-and-death. Haiden has Dravet syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy. Haiden used to suffer from frequent seizures of all varieties - sometimes more than 100 a day, despite taking five prescription medications, all at the maximum dose our neurologist would allow. Today, Haiden receives two daily doses of medical cannabis with 100 milligrams of cannabidiol, also called CBD. His medicine has almost no THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis. It has dramatically transformed my son, and by extension our entire family. [continues 529 words]
According to headlines, Washington lawmakers are trying to divert marijuana tax revenues to fund general education instead of prevention and treatment services (SB 6062). Prevention coalitions and youth treatment organizations like Daybreak Youth Services help keep and get kids away from drugs through dedicated public health dollars like this. Voters wanted it dedicated to prevention and treatment. Ignoring that harms everyone. The community must understand the real risks of using pot at young ages. That message cannot get out effectively without funding. [continues 86 words]
State tax revenues from legal marijuana sales, which began last summer, hit $33 million by the end of March. The total has risen steadily each month for the last nine months, as the recreational pot market authorized by Initiative 502 lurches to its feet. That revenue is estimated to skyrocket up, potentially to $900 million over the next four years, if the Legislature finally gets a handle on the unregulated medical marijuana market. Rising revenue is proving to be like a candy dish for lawmakers now trying to balance the state budget. It is very tempting, but raiding marijuana tax revenues to pay for services not intended by the ballot measure ultimately is bad for the state's collective health. [continues 293 words]
These days, you can't talk about the pro-marijuana movement without one dispensary owner or weed lover citing the failure of Prohibition as a lesson - as in, the legalization of pot can't be stopped just like booze couldn't a century ago. So when the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) announced that the new traveling exhibit, "American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition" would be coming here, you knew an allegory would be served up one way or another. [continues 472 words]
A growing gap exists between how the early marijuana-legalization laws are rolling out in Washington state and what ought to be concurrent education campaigns to give marijuana consumers science-based information to make wise choices. Initiative 502 earmarked new excise-tax revenues to the state Department of Health to pay for "medically and scientifically accurate information about the health and safety risks posed by marijuana use." The initiative also called for a marijuana public-health hotline. To be available statewide, the hotline is intended to provide treatment referrals, brief counseling and educational information about marijuana. [continues 661 words]
Can weed give our furry companions happier lives and more peaceful deaths? Remember the right-wing homophobes who claimed that if we allowed gays to get married, pretty soon people would begin marrying their pets? Well, now, the damn hippies who voted to legalize the wacky weed are indeed trying to get their dogs and cats stoned! Hooked on the hound hemp! The kitty chronic!? Companies like Seattle-based Canna-Pet and Canna Companion sell cannabinoid treats for dogs and cats-not to get them high (the hemp biscuits and capsules have very low levels of THC), but to help with joint discomfort and inflammation, and hopefully to make that yappy poodle across the street calm the fuck down. [continues 663 words]
WASHINGTON'S experiment with legal recreational marijuana is "teetering on the brink" of a market failure. That is the candid assessment of Hayden Woodard, a state-licensed grower in Dallesport who hasn't given himself a paycheck in a year. It's not just him. A stream of state-licensed marijuana operators recently testified in Olympia about how overregulation and unequal competition from unregulated medical-marijuana dispensaries are jeopardizing Initiative 502, the landmark legalization measure passed in 2012. The Washington CannaBusiness Association says I-502's unwieldy structure is forcing applicants to give up on licenses, or even close shop. [continues 410 words]
Passing the Dutchie to the Right This Time. The idea of Higher Ground is to "elevate the dialogue," and thus it's important to remain open-minded to individuals and organizations on all sides of the marijuana-legalization conversation. With that in mind, let's light the peace pipe and reach the roach across the aisle. WHAT WOULD JESUS DOO-BIE? Strongly opposing marijuana legislation are activists Alan Gordon and Anne Armstrong, who made headlines by bum-rushing a press conference supporting a new state legalization bill in Rhode Island. The duo aren't against the notion of legal weed, but instead believe that taxing the plant is against the teachings of the Bible, and Satanic. They take issue with the language of the law, claiming medical use of cannabis (which they believe is the Biblical plant called "kaneh-bos") outweighs any laws, restrictions, or taxes. [continues 796 words]
Give thanks for the little things, they say. A bill that would stop the feds from going after medical marijuana users in states that permit such activity is something for which we should give thanks. But it is little. Let's not criticize the sponsoring senators - Rand Paul, R-Ky., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Cory Booker, D-N.J. - for such a small reprieve from the war on drugs. They've probably gone about as far as they could within the two-faced confines of our national politics. [continues 537 words]
Two Washington lawmakers announced a bill Thursday that would allow anyone 21 years old or older to grow as many as six marijuana plants and share their pot. Anyone growing their own marijuana, for recreational or medical purposes, would be allowed to possess eight ounces - seven more than the current recreational limit. Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, sponsored the bill in the Senate; Rep. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen, introduced the bill in the house. The home-grow provision was part of Senator Kohl-Welles' vision for overhauling the marijuana market earlier this year, but lawmakers turned their focus earlier this session to a competing bill championed by Ann Rivers, R-La Center. [continues 174 words]
A modest proposal to head off the awful Senate Bill 5052. Last week, three U.S. senators introduced a bill that attempts to amend many of the outdated medical-marijuana conundrums at the federal level. The bill would end the prohibition of medical marijuana, reclassify the plant from its current designation as a Schedule 1 narcotic (a status that suggests no medical value and high potential for abuse), and allow for more cannabis study and research. While the bipartisan bill doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of passing, it's a great conversation starter. [continues 760 words]
The People's Harm Reduction Alliance is one of the most daring and innovative needle exchanges in the country. And it's run by users. Five years ago, they started giving out crack stems. Now they're expanding services for methamphetamine users. On a sunny afternoon the first week of March, in an alley behind the University District post office, volunteers for the People's Harm Reduction Alliance needle exchange open the doors, set up their outreach table, and begin another afternoon's work. [continues 3355 words]
After Washington State Made It Legal, a Struggling Small Town Went into Business North Bonneville, Wash. - Deep in the Columbia River Gorge, a short drive from the Bridge of the Gods, the nation's only government-run marijuana shop was running low on weed. The store had been open for just a few days. Inside, manager Robyn Legun was frantically trying to restock. Outside, five customers stood waiting for the doors to open. Someone cracked a joke about this being a typical government operation, always running late. [continues 1522 words]
The views of many pot prohibitionists haven't advanced past "Dragnet," an ancient TV melodrama in which Sgt. Joe Friday lectured caricatures of hippies over the use of drugs. Here's an excerpt from a 1968 episode: "Marijuana is the fuse, heroin the flame and LSD the bomb. So don't you try to equate liquor with marijuana with me, mister. You may sell that jazz to another pothead, but not to somebody who spends most of their time holding some sick kid's head while he vomits and retches sitting on a curbstone at four o'clock in the morning." He finishes with, "I'm the expert here!" [continues 523 words]
SEATTLE (AP) - Washington high school students who participated in a statewide survey say marijuana is easy to get and they do not perceive any risk from smoking pot once or twice. While high school smoking of tobacco continues to go down, marijuana use has remained stable since the last healthy youth survey was conducted two years ago, state health officials said Thursday. More than 200,000 students in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 in Washington public schools took the voluntary and anonymous survey in October. They answered questions about their health and behaviors. [continues 248 words]
Therapeutic Claims Made in Marketing Challenged Agency Says Little If Any Cbd Found in Products Let's say your dog has seizures or chronic pain from arthritis. Living in pot-friendly Western Washington, you figure he might benefit from medical cannabis. You look around and find a handful of new companies offering cannabis-infused biscuits and capsules made for pets. That's quite a lucky find for Fido, right? Not so fast, says the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The agency recently sent warning letters to such companies based in Seattle and Sultan. [continues 881 words]
A Family of Medical Marijuana Growers, Facing 10 Years in Prison, Was Recently Acquitted on Almost All Charges Against Them "You're not a cog in the machine of the federal government," attorney Phil Telfeyan told a jury drawn from self-reliant Eastern Washington on March 2. "You can stand up and say, 'No. The evidence isn't there.'" And that's exactly what they did. The 12 jurors had been charged with weighing the case of the "Kettle Falls Five," a family of Eastern Washington medical marijuana growers we wrote about in last week's paper. [continues 488 words]
Every single day there's breaking news in the marijuana movement. Alaska officially legalized weed on February 24, making it the fourth state in the Union to toss aside the chains of prohibition, and the next day, at the stroke of midnight, our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., followed suit. #CommanderInSpleef! But if ya think the "Just Say No" Nancy Reagan types are gently stepping aside, and the taxation and regulation of cannabis are going along swimmingly, you've been smoking too much of the recently legalized chronic. [continues 754 words]
It is with "awwwww" that I read The Columbian newspaper. Pot stores have a strong impact on our news reporting. In the March 5 issue: a huge picture and story, "Gorge town gets into pot business," about a new city-owned pot store opening in North Bonneville; it's not only on most of the front page but continues on about two-thirds of the following page. Also, there's a March 4 story, "Main Street's 'marijuana traffic' packs the parking," about how parking in downtown Vancouver is causing problems because of the pot stores. I realize I am old and boring and these are different times than when I grew up ... but, really? I just do not understand the concept of "front page news." Dot Naten La Center [end]
SEATTLE - A small town in southern Washington on Saturday opened the state's first recreational marijuana store that is both owned and operated by the local government, officials said. Cannabis Corner in North Bonneville, home to about 1,000 people on the Columbia River Gorge, will sell a range of marijuana products with all profits going back to the local community, city leaders said. "It's a really great solution for these small, rural communities that need to raise a little bit of revenue," said Robyn Legun, general manager of Cannabis Corner. [continues 206 words]
North Bonneville, Wash. Entrepreneurial Endeavor Could Be Lucrative for Town of 1,000 Of all the steps taken since Washington legalized marijuana, North Bonneville's might be boldest. The town of about 1,000 in Skamania County, which sits on the Columbia River about 40 miles northeast of Portland, is becoming the first government in the nation, and perhaps the world, to own a recreational marijuana store. The Cannabis Corner, a renovated pole barn off Highway 14, opens Saturday. It will be the first marijuana store in the county. [continues 762 words]
Legislature 2015 Not All Wrinkles Worked Out As Lawmakers Try to to Combine Medical, Recreational Systems OLYMPIA - Just outside the room with jars full of cannabis, Rainier Xpress owner Patrick Seifert points out the photos of veterans on the walls of the medical-marijuana dispensary's waiting area. They're all customers, says Seifert, who added that he gives every veteran customer a joint a day to cope with PTSD, traumatic brain injury or other medical problems. But Rainier Xpress, which Siefert says serves up to 120 patients daily, may not be long for this world. Preoccupied with a thriving black market and medical products that aren't subject to state-mandated testing, lawmakers want to fold the state's medical-marijuana patients into the highly regulated recreational system. [continues 1308 words]
In Federal Court, There's No Such Thing as Medical Marijuana-So a Rural Family of Medical Marijuana Patients Is Being Treated Like Drug Traffickers Before Rhonda Firestack-Harvey was part of a nationally watched court case that could change the course of the federal drug war, she lived quietly with her husband in their modest double-wide mobile home two hours northwest of Spokane. Rhonda suffers from carpal tunnel and osteoarthritis. In 2011, she got a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana for her achy joints. Her husband, Larry, also got medical authorization to use marijuana to treat pain caused by gout. Washington State was one of the very first states to approve medical marijuana, way back in 1998, and under state law, medical marijuana patients are allowed to grow their own medicine. When Rhonda and Larry started a grow on their property, Larry posted a sign with a green cross on it near the plants, hoping it would communicate to anyone flying over that this was a medical grow, not a criminal operation. [continues 2240 words]
At 76, the pater familias of the legalization movement won't slow down. I'll be honest. My expectations about a press conference with Tommy Chong, of the famous stoner duo Cheech & Chong, were that there would be some cliched humor, some pantomimed puffing, and photo ops galore for hippies of a bygone era. And there was some of that. But there was also something I didn't expect: a fresh perspective on the new pot movement. The reason Tommy Chong matters-and the reason I'm writing about his recent visit to Seattle's CannaCon-is that each and every time there's a mention of legalization or the counterculture or pot smoking, there's inevitably a reference to Cheech & Chong. Even if the name is never spoken, a haze of Cheech & Chong wafts through the mind. (See?!) [continues 726 words]
When it comes to marijuana, Washington comes off as the granny state of recreational pot when compared with Colorado. Let's face it, the rollout here has been glacial. As of last week, Seattle had just nine state-licensed stores. Nine. But change is coming to this state's nascent marijuana experiment. A major player is poised to enter the market. Some of this state's most business-savvy Native American tribes are evaluating the risks and opportunity to grow or sell marijuana, as well as the relatively untapped potential in medical-marijuana research. [continues 654 words]
The fate of three people accused of growing and dealing marijuana out of their rural Stevens County home will soon be in the hands of a federal jury. Those 12 people may also decide the future of federal prosecutions targeting marijuana growers. A Washington, D.C., civil rights attorney representing Rhonda Firestack-Harvey, Rolland Gregg and Michelle Gregg made an impassioned plea to jurors Monday afternoon to throw out what he called an "overzealous, overreaching" case built by federal prosecutors. "They roped in this innocent family," said Phil Tefleyan, who has taken the lead in the trial of the so-called "Kettle Falls Five," which is now down to three. They face drug and firearms charges that carry mandatory prison sentences of more than a decade. [continues 552 words]
SPOKANE - Federal prosecutors in Spokane are trying to convince a jury that a cancerstricken man and his family were illegally growing and distributing marijuana on their northeastern Washington property despite claims by the "Kettle Falls Five" that they were instead raising legal medical cannabis for their personal use. The case against Larry Harvey's family has become a cause celebre among the marijuana community, which sees it as a disconnect between state and federal marijuana laws. Washington state last summer allowed legal recreational sales, although the raid on the Harvey home happened in August 2012. And Congress late last year effectively barred the Justice Department from interfering with states that have medical marijuana systems. [continues 203 words]
Representatives Attend Forum on Regulatory, Social Issues TULALIP, Wash. (AP) - The Justice Department's announcement in December that it would allow the nation's Indian tribes to legalize and regulate marijuana on their reservations brought notes of caution if not silence or opposition from many tribes. They were reluctant given the substance-abuse problems that already plague many reservations. But the attendance at a conference on the topic Friday gave an early indication of just how many might be weighing it, even if a thicket of potential legal issues remain. [continues 619 words]
Wine Approach Some in the Pot Industry Dream of Vineyard-Like Tours, but Some See Limits to That Comparison. Jill Lane, master grower at Sky High Gardens on Seattle's Harbor Island, uncaps jar after jar of golf-ball-size marijuana buds and allows her guests sniffs of Bubblicious, Super Silver Goo and Green Crack. "What kind of high is that?" asks Louise Avery, gesturing to one of the jars. "This is for daytime: taking a hike. Beach volleyball," explains Lane to the group of visitors with Kush Tourism, a Seattle-based cannabis company. Lane continues describing strains as if the visitors surrounding the table were middle-age women in a Yankee Candle store. [continues 1408 words]
TULALIP, Wash. - The Justice Department's December announcement that it would allow the nation's Indian tribes to legalize and regulate marijuana on their reservations brought notes of caution - if not silence or opposition - from many tribes. They were reluctant to consider it given the substance abuse problems that already plague many reservations. But the attendance at a conference on the topic Friday gave an early indication of just how many might be weighing it. Representatives of about 75 tribes from around the country converged on the Tulalip Indian Tribe's resort and casino for a $605-a-head seminar on the regulatory, legal and social issues related to pot legalization. That's a small fraction of the nation's 566 recognized tribes, and many of the attendees were from smaller tribes looking for a potential economic edge. [end]
First Such Gathering Event Offered Debate and Education on Merits of Legalization Hundreds of tribal leaders, lawyers and marijuana-industry representatives gathered in Tulalip on Friday for the nation's first tribal marijuana conference, an event that served as much as a policy debate on the merits of legalization as it did an educational session. More than 60 tribes from at least 25 states were represented, said Erica Curnutte, who organized the event. Publicly, tribes have been wary of entering the marijuana market after the Department of Justice released a policy memo saying tribes could grow and sell marijuana. [continues 620 words]
State Forecast Much Cheaper Prices of Illegal Suppliers Could Lure Medical Users OLYMPIA - Black-market marijuana costs a third as much as its state-sanctioned counterpart, and two-thirds of medical-marijuana users could head there instead of a newly regulated medical system, according to state estimates. The analysis from the state Department of Revenue comes as lawmakers wrestle with how to regulate medical-marijuana shops and products in a way similar to the recreational system voters approved in 2012. The numbers outline the difficulty legislators will face in bringing all marijuana use into a state-controlled system. [continues 537 words]
Several Tribes Will Discuss This Weekend Whether They Want to Get into the Cannabiz. It should be noted that I'm not exactly a shill for the marijuana industry. (Though product samples can be dropped off at the Weekly offices: make sure to mark packages "Legal Marijuana" lest they be confiscated by the federal post office.) That said, when there's positive news related to cannabis, given my predilection for smoking the stuff, I have every intention of highlighting the study, report, innovation, or miracle cure-if only to counter the hundred years of Reefer Madness propaganda that came before. (They did have cool posters . . . ) With that pot-infused preamble in place, it's time for a joke: [continues 727 words]
One Grower Says Regulations, Taxes and a Volatile Market Are Making the New Marijuana "Green Economy" Just a Pipe Dream So Far. ARLINGTON - The farm near here looks much like its rural neighbors on Highway 9. But this one is under 24-hour surveillance. Signs outside a house and two buildings warn that guns and children are not allowed. As one approaches the locked doors of the operation, there is a faint smell of marijuana. Inside, about a dozen workers grow and harvest plants, package dry leaves and buds and prepare it for sale on the state's newly legal recreational marijuana market. The agricultural part of the operation is backed by a sophisticated business that is navigating a labyrinth of regulations, changing rules and nervous neighbors. [continues 1451 words]
Man With Pancreatic Cancer Won't Face Charges, but Friend, Family Members Not Off Hook SPOKANE (AP) - The Justice Department has dropped its case against a 71-year-old man charged in a northeastern Washington marijuana bust because he was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Larry Harvey faced federal charges - as did his wife, two other relatives and a family friend - after they were caught two years ago growing about 70 pot plants on their rural, mountainous property near Kettle Falls. Harvey said he used the marijuana to ease pain from gout, but the government argued that the family's operation did not comply with the state's medical marijuana law, and marijuana remains illegal under federal law. [continues 332 words]
You may like technology ( who doesn't these days?) or the energy sector ( where would we be without it?) - but if you're making a longterm bet as an investor, there's a lot going for Big Tobacco. It's not just that tobacco boasts the best historical performance of allU. S. industries. The industry's future seems especially bright. As marijuana gradually becomes a legal drug, Big Tobacco is poised to dominate the market. According to the 2015 edition of Credit Suisse's Global Investment Returns Yearbook, a dollar invested in tobacco in 1900 would have turned into $ 6.3 million by the end of 2014, by far the best performance of all the industries that existed at the start of the 20th century. [continues 549 words]
We should support comments by Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson agreeing with recent court decisions that cities, towns and some areas of counties have the right to ban the sale and some processing of recreational marijuana. We now are seeing some of the negative effects of recreational marijuana in our communities. Since the passage of I-502 there is evidence of brain damage to our young, damage to their immune systems, damage to their reaction and judgmental decisions that effect their daily life, more involvement by police in marijuana incidents, particularly in fatal and injury traffic accidents and explosions from manufacturing hash oil that have killed people and caused property damage. [continues 146 words]
A federal judge declined Thursday to throw out the criminal case against the marijuana farmers dubbed the "Kettle Falls Five," setting up the likelihood of another trial delay two years after charges were filed. When it commences, it may be the trial of the Kettle Falls Four. The attorney for Larry Harvey, patriarch of the family now facing federal criminal prosecution for what they say they believe was a legal medical marijuana grow near Colville, said he's confident the U.S. attorney's office will drop the charges against the 71-year-old based on his failing health. [continues 441 words]
Dual Markets Dispensaries Squeezing Us Out, Recreational Firms Have Complained OLYMPIA - A measure seeking to reconcile Washington state's medical-marijuana industry with its heavily taxed recreational sector passed the Washington state Senate on Friday. Senate Bill 5052 passed on a bipartisan 36-11 vote and now heads to the House for consideration. It is one of several measures brought forth by lawmakers this year after efforts to address the dual markets died in the House last session. "The Senate sent a strong and clear message to the people of this state today that we're taking this issue seriously and we're going to keep working on it for the safety of our patients and the safety of our children," Republican Sen. Ann Rivers of La Center, Clark County, who sponsored the bill, said after the vote. "There's tremendous will to get this done. We have got to get rid of the gray and black market." [continues 389 words]
As Valley Moves Toward a Moratorium, Citizen Wants Consistent Laws As the Spokane Valley City Council moved its proposed marijuana moratorium on to a second reading without much commotion or public testimony, Tara Harrison listened from the back of the room. Harrison works at the Herbal Connection in the Garland District and she's been at many Spokane Valley City Council meetings when marijuana was on the agenda. On Tuesday evening, Harrison didn't get up to speak in front of the council, but she has an idea for the Valley City Council. [continues 296 words]
Despite a year to research and ponder how to make legal cannabis - medical, recreational and industrial (hemp) - workable in this state, the Legislature is already in the middle of another mess. Some separate 18 cannabis-related bills were introduced in the House early on. Legislators decided that in order to get a better handle on them, they should all be rolled into one big bill, never mind the contradictions, duplications, etc., contained therein. Reconciling the laws, the proposed bills, and orchestrating a new industry into a viable enterprise is definitely a complicated undertaking, and definitely should not be left to the Liquor Control Board to randomly decide. So much more must go into the decision-making besides visions of pots o' gold tax receipts. With the systems set up correctly, the taxes will come. But the needs of patients and customers must come first, like any business. [continues 513 words]
About a year ago, the Yakima City Council heard accusations of hypocrisy as it supported a request by the Association of Washington Cities for the state to share recreational marijuana taxes with cities. The council's move came just weeks after the City Council had voted to ban marijuana businesses, and critics said the city can't have it both ways. But the city -- and the association -- argued that with the drug being legal after voters approved Initiative 502, the city faced increased law enforcement needs to combat offenses such as driving under the influence and minors in possession. Our position was that cities like Yakima needed to document the extra law enforcement and health care costs if it wanted a piece of the revenue pie. [continues 359 words]
MARIJUANA legalization under Initiative 502 is a bold experiment. As attorney general, I am defending that state law rigorously. But one question threatens to unravel marijuana legalization in Washington state and, potentially, across the country: Can cities and counties ban the sale of marijuana within their local jurisdiction? When asked to answer that important question, I reviewed the law carefully and concluded that, yes, they may. Local governments have broad authority to pass their own laws unless a state law explicitly says they can't. Simply put, the language of I-502 does not prohibit local bans. The drafters could have included such a provision, but they did not. Many marijuana advocates were disappointed in this conclusion, but my job is to go where the law takes me, whatever the outcome. [continues 390 words]
THE implementation of Initiative 502 is floundering. Its largest obstacle is not medical marijuana, as state lawmakers suggest, but its haphazard construction, an emerging marijuana market in Oregon and a group of I-502 advocates who have decided to scapegoat medical marijuana rather than fix a flawed initiative. Legislators must recognize that I-502 is based on an untenable regulatory model. It doesn't help that the state Liquor Control Board has an abysmal record of understanding how business functions. If it is to succeed, I-502 must be reworked to meet the needs of medical-marijuana patients as well as recreational purchasers. Denying the obvious threatens to derail the initiative and roll back the 1998 Medical Use of Marijuana Act, which first gave Washingtonians legal access to marijuana. [continues 579 words]
Legislature 2015 20 Separate Bills Tackle Issues Including Taxes, Zoning Issues, Medical Pot OLYMPIA - So many tweaks are needed to reform Washington state's marijuana laws that state House lawmakers began Monday a two-day session of public hearings on nearly 20 separate bills. The proposals range from fixes in the way marijuana is taxed and where it can be sold, to how local governments are allowed to ban it. But the unifying theme Monday for the House Commerce and Gaming Committee was reforming the fledgling marijuana industry to bring into the system the state's black-market growers and sellers. [continues 550 words]
Inside Washington
