Marty's Travels

My house has wheels

Pot: Washington Fixes it’s Medical Situation?

It looks like one of the big bills written to fix the medical marijuana situation has passed and will likely be signed into law. There are many other laws still in progress.

This law, though, starts out by renaming the Liquor Control Board to Liquor and Cannabis Board.

Medical marijuana cardholders must now get them by getting a prescription (not a recommendation) from a licensed medical professional that can prove an active relationship with the patient. This alone should pretty much end the medical marijuana thing in Washington. Cardholders must be on a state database–all other medical states have these registeries–which is promised to be held confidential except to any medical or law enforcement official. That should be enough to discourage the stragglers.

Existing unregulated growers/processors/sellers will be allowed a regular license based on their merit, which means experience, paying taxes, and staying out of jail. I guess (my guess is always as good as the state’s guess) that this will expand the existing retail system in Washington by four times.

I doubt that the existing I-502 licensees will be thrilled with the increased competition by the very state that put them through the ordeal of being legal. Their recourse is lawsuits, which will only make the problem worse.

The law said nothing about how the local governments could handle things, which suggests that a lot of communities will be able to close down the unregulated operations. Seattle, Tacoma, and Spokane have been anxious for some cover to clean things up. There will be a lot of angst about this.

Man, Washington’s system is sure screwed up now….