As a new task force convenes to address the region's heroin epidemic, King County residents should prepare to support numerous options for treating a growing number of addicts.

THE horrendous effects of heroin addiction can be felt everywhere, from homeless encampments under bridges and on the streets of glittering downtown Seattle to rural communities throughout the state.

Maintaining the status quo is not an option. Nor is simply blaming people who are dealing with addiction. The only way to address this public health crisis - and to end the death spiral for some - is to acknowledge the scope of the problem and to be open to exploring new approaches to treatment.

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There was a time when Penny LeGate couldn't bear to hear her own daughter's name.

And yet, there she was last week, glued to her computer screen, watching as Sen. Patty Murray stood on the floor of the U.S. Senate and cited LeGate's girl, Marah Williams - and her death at 19 from a heroin overdose in 2012 - in urging the passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act.

The legislation, if passed, would tackle prescription-drug abuse and heroin addiction by cutting down the "inappropriate" use of pain medication that leads to addiction. It also would make it easier for people to safely dispose of medication and would give police access to naloxone, which can counteract the effects of an overdose.

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And Other Marijuana News

Don't Expect to See Legal Pot Delivered to Your Doorstep Anytime Soon

The bill from Representative Chris Hurst (D-Enumclaw) that would have set up a pilot program allowing for delivery service by state-licensed cannabis retailers failed to meet the house's February 26 voting cutoff on policy bills.

According to Hurst, it wasn't popular with certain parts of Seattle's pot industry, which didn't trust the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board to implement it fairly. Despite these woes, Hurst told me, the bill could still make it, as it has a fiscal component and could be voted on as part of the budget process.

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The Jan. 22 letter, "Bill creates new pot black market," takes issue with Senate bill 6207, which exempts from public disclosure some information contained within marijuana licensing records. As chief of enforcement for the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board, I would like to clarify that the intent of the legislation would protect only a small amount of information from being released publicly.

The bill specifically targets information such as the licensee's personal financial and retirement statements, shipment information for licensed deliveries, including vehicle identification, and building security information. Releasing this information to the public could potentially increase the risk for theft, fraud and the illegal diversion of marijuana.

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EVERETT - The Everett City Council has reopened debate on its marijuana ordinance and is sending it back to the city's planning commission for a second look.

After Initiative 502 legalized recreational pot businesses in Washington in late 2012, Everett passed a series of six month emergency ordinances to govern where retail shops were located while the city's staff and city council could study and debate the issue.

The city adopted its permanent ordinance in July 2015, but given the latest actions, "permanent" turned out to mean seven months.

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It's easy to forget Washington was the first state to legalize marijuana, because Colorado was quicker to actually open pot shops.

Media hordes descended on the story in the summer of 2014, with hometown paper The Denver Post leading the way.

Now, Colorado gets more special attention on the silver screen. The documentary "Rolling Papers" looks at the state's legalization experience through the eyes and ears of Denver Post reporters and editors.

The film barrels through about a year of the newspaper's marijuana coverage and wonders: Could covering pot save the failing newspaper business?

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Opposes Marijuana Shops in City

Says Problems Not Worth Tax Revenue

YAKIMA - Even though marijuana can be legally bought just down the road, Yakima's top cop wants to keep marijuana shops out of his city.

"I don't see anything positive coming out of it," police Chief Dominic Rizzi Jr. said of a proposal to allow retail sales of marijuana in Yakima.

Rizzi sees any financial benefits to the city outweighed by increases in crime and other problems related to addiction.

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After a Spate of Recalls in Denver, Should Users Be Worried? It's Hard to Say. Because Marijuana Is Still Illegal in Most Places, There's No Official "Safe Level" of Pesticides.

Despite fining two marijuana growers and suspending the licenses of two others for using unapproved pesticides, Washington state hasn't recalled any products for pesticides during the 18 months that legal pot sales have been allowed.

The city of Denver, by comparison, recently recalled 19 pot products for pesticides in 19 weeks.

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AMERICA is suffering from a pernicious and growing addiction to a category of drugs that include prescription pain medications and heroin.

Opioid abuse and overdoses take a lethal toll in Washington and across the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the U.S. death count at 28,648 for 2014.

President Obama's welcome, if belated, response to this crisis would direct $460 million toward states to dramatically expand access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid abuse.

As the University of Washington's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute noted in a 2015 online briefing, medication-assisted treatment "can be a lifesaving and cost-saving intervention for those with opioid use disorder."

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Just after Uncle Ike's Pot Shop opened in Seattle's Central District, it boasted in an ad, "Our weed cures Ebola."

Knowing that merchants in the new industry weren't allowed to make any medical claims about pot, the fine print disclaimer winked: "If you believe this ad, you are a (expletive) moron."

That in-your-face Vern Fonk-on-weed sensibility has helped make Uncle Ike's the state's top-selling pot store, with $1.4 million in monthly sales.

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Several longtime Seattle medical-marijuana businesses filed a lawsuit Friday against the state Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) alleging that regulators are not following their own rules in issuing a new round of licenses for retail stores.

At issue is the process of bringing medical businesses into the state's licensed recreational-retail system. The Legislature last year gave the LCB authority to license new stores, with priority given to longtime medical players seen as good actors, in following rules and paying taxes.

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Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and City Attorney Pete Holmes on Tuesday announced their support for legislation to create a program to test legal pot-delivery services.

State legislators are mulling a proposal to establish a two-year pilot program that would allow five licensed recreational marijuana stores in the state to deliver marijuana to Washington residents over the age of 21.

"Creating an equivalent legal form of delivery will provide a safe alternative for adults to use, while helping prevent those under 21 from acquiring marijuana," says a city-sponsored bulletin.

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A thriving network of unlicensed marijuana-delivery services makes a mockery of Initiative 502's important goal of ending the black market.

WASHINGTON'S landmark effort to legalize and tax marijuana, now three years old, is finally gaining steady footing. Without federal interference, 197 retail marijuana stores are operating statewide, and state regulators are running checks for underage sales. Finally, the unregulated medical-marijuana market is being folded into the licensed, regulated system.

But the goal of crushing the illicit market - the one that readily sells to kids - is still a pipe dream. In fact, the black market is open and thriving in Seattle, in the form of marijuana-delivery services.

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The opening of a local marijuana shop brings up some interesting issues surrounding the sale of the drug in the state.

Yakima resident John Larson recently opened Sticky's Pot Shop in Hazel Dell, which is an unincorporated portion of Clark County. This violates the county's moratorium upon marijuana businesses, which were approved statewide by voters with passage of Initiative 502 in 2012. Larson, who previously had lost a court challenge against the county's moratorium, applied for a certificate of occupancy for a store that would sell "novelties, crafts, collectibles and general merchandise." There was no mention of marijuana on the application.

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Reduced Buffers in Some Places

City, State at Odds Over New Licenses

Legal pot businesses would be allowed in more parts of Seattle under rules approved Monday by the City Council.

Mayor Ed Murray proposed relaxing state-imposed buffers between pot shops and some sensitive areas, such as parks and arcades. As required by state law, the buffers would remain at 1,000 feet between pot businesses and schools and playgrounds.

Murray's aim was to accommodate new shops the state will license as it tries to fold medical-marijuana dispensaries into its system for recreational stores, while trying to keep them from clustering.

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A Scientist Who Looked at the Data Says a Number of Labs Are Overly Grower-Friendly.

Some state-certified marijuana labs testing for microbes such as E.coli and mold appear more friendly to pot merchants than others, according to an analysis by a Woodinville data scientist.

Four labs rejected none of the pot they tested over a three-month period last year, according to the analysis by Jim MacRae. Four other labs failed more than 12 percent of samples tested over the same time, with two labs rejecting 44 percent of samples for microbes.

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Business Owners, Budtenders, and Marijuana Lovers Reflect on the Highs (and Lows) of 2015

"I regret dabs. When I do them, my heart starts to beat so fast that it goes supernova and the force of my social anxiety becomes so strong that my personality can't escape." -Kat Kranzler, cat lover and marijuana enthusiast

"I regret not keeping better track of the things I like. I think cannabis journals are gonna blow up. There should really be an Untappd-style app for weed." -Ananda Green, store manager at Ganja Goddess

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How can we remove the stigma of pot use? Maybe give it a spiritual spin?

I was recently asked to participate on a panel that was part of a charity auction for a local nonprofit.

The organizer was excited to have me involved, but wanted to make sure I didn't mention my work in the cannabis community as "it wouldn't go over well with our patrons." While I agreed to avoid any wild diatribes about legalization, I did think the request was a bit ironic, given that there was an open bar and they were auctioning a wine trip to Walla Walla as a grand prize.

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Liquor and Cannabis Board Would Double Number of Stores in Seattle

Trying to fold medical marijuana into the state's retail system, state Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) staff are recommending an additional 222 retail stores around Washington, including 21 in Seattle.

If adopted on Jan. 6 by the LCB's three board members, the Wednesday proposal could double the number of stores in Seattle and increase the statewide total from 334 to 556 stores.

In all, King County could see 53 additional stores. Bellevue could double its number of stores from four to eight. Ten other King County cities could see one or two more stores.

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I have a few concerns.

I'm concerned that I may be fronting the largest drug operation since Scarface and meth labs ruled the night.

I'm concerned about kids and marijuana and making more of it available to their developing young flea-brains (which, if they're like mine, will remain half-baked until their late 20s).

I'm concerned about involving the government in oversight and taxation, as we know full well they fuck up everything they get their grubby hands on (and are already squabbling over and redirecting the massive tax revenue being collected).

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