\nI renewed my medical marijuana card the other day. That might seem\nodd in a legal state, but I can explain. First, here\u2019s an overview\nof the medical marijuana program in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The voters passed I-692 in 1998 to enable a basic medical marijuana program. Similar to others already passed, \u201ccaregivers\u201d could grow a small number of plants to supply their \u201cpatients\u201d for money to cover the grower\u2019s costs. Both parties would need to be registered with the Board of Health, and patients would require a doctor\u2019s \u201cadvice\u201d to use marijuana. As was typical then, the law was loose, vague, and subject to interpretation. Slowly the program evolved to include \u201ccollectives\u201d and \u201cdispensaries\u201d, essentially larger-scale grows and storefronts. The patient count expanded quickly as many medical professionals could issue advice, likely for a tiny fee for a brief \u201cexamination\u201d. The looseness of the law led to an explosion in marijuana businesses with no regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2011, Senate Bill\n5073 was written to reign in the program a bit, to impose more\nstringent rules and regulations. It passed the legislature and was\nsent to Governor Christine Gregoire\u2019s desk for final signature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before she signed it into law, US Attorney Jenny Durkan wrote a letter to the governor threatening federal action under the controlled substance law against the governor and any state employee involved in implementing the law. The Cole Memo hadn\u2019t been issued yet. Gregoire buckled and vetoed the bill, which guaranteed that none of the reforms would happen. Jenny Durkan is now the mayor of Seattle. (She is currently a political target of the moron). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That prompted\nInitiative 502 in 2012 to fully legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana\nin the state. I-502 had a provision that allowed the medical\nmarijuana program, as weak as it was, to continue. The thinking was\nthat caregivers would get a \u201c502\u201d license to grow, patients\nwouldn\u2019t have to pay sales tax on their purchases, and dispensaries\nwould get a retail license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The high costs of\nretail marijuana under 502 offered no incentive for existing medical\ncaregivers and patients to switch to the new taxed and regulated\nregime. The legislature attacked this problem by tightening up the\nmedical program wherever they could, but not by just eliminating it.\nThere was a political price to be paid for \u201ctaking away medicine\nfrom sick people\u201d. Customers in the 502 system migrated to the new\nway, and dropped their medical authorizations. The medical system is\nvery small nowadays, but still functions here and there, though with\nvery limited legal protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To get a medical\ncard in WA one needs a doctor\u2019s recommendation. I asked at my\nneighborhood pot shop for a reference to such a doctor and was sent\nto a Naturopathic Doctor in town. My visit cost $140, lasted about 30\nminutes, and I found it to be quite informative. She authorized me as\na caregiver able to grow 15 plants as well as purchase cannabis\nwithout sales tax. It\u2019s easy to find a doctor at festivals and\nconcerts for about $50 and it only takes a few minutes. I went back\nto the shop with my paperwork and got a card, free except I tipped\nthem $5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With my card I can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Purchase up to 3\nounces of cannabis flower at one time. One ounce is the legal\nstandard in WA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Avoid the 10% sales\ntax, but must pay the 27% marijuana tax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Store 16 ounces in\nmy home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grow 15 plants.\nHomegrowing under 502 in WA is illegal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, the ability to\npurchase 3 ounces at one time isn\u2019t worth much if you can grab an\neighth ounce whenever you want it by taking a 5 minute drive. And I\nhave no idea what I would do with a pound of marijuana as it\ndeteriorates quickly. I have no land, so no place to grow a single\nplant. I have no patients to reimburse my growing costs even if I had\nthe space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have two reasons\nto have a medical card when I don\u2019t need it. The first is that it\nis a way to buy rights from the state which gives me more privilege\nthan other people. I think that this is an absurd proposition. Given\nthat the state \u201csells\u201d certain rights to some and arrests the\nrest for the same behavior has always been my objection to medical\nmarijuana laws in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The medical card\ngives me \u201cstanding\u201d to comment on the subject, specifically to\nlaw makers and enforcers. Which I do. My goal is to make legal\nmarijuana legal, everyone gets the same rights to grow, process,\nsell, and consume.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I renewed my medical marijuana card the other day. That might seem odd in a legal state, but I can explain. First, here\u2019s an overview of the medical marijuana program in Washington. The voters passed I-692 in 1998 to enable a basic medical marijuana program. Similar to others already passed, \u201ccaregivers\u201d could grow a small […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.martincassidy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.martincassidy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.martincassidy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.martincassidy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.martincassidy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2735"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.martincassidy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2737,"href":"http:\/\/www.martincassidy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2735\/revisions\/2737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.martincassidy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.martincassidy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.martincassidy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}