Hippies on Bikes!
Expect to see a lot more bearded hippies on bikes soon. Bike messenger/Shutterstock

A bill to allow cannabis delivery services in the City of Seattle, HB 2368, is headed to the House floor after this morning's Commerce and Gaming Committee meeting, which is great news. Even greater news? Rep. Christopher Hurst (D-Enumclaw, haver of a really great mustache) amended the bill to open up the delivery game to as many operators as the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) sees fit to authorize. Given the WSLCB's track record with market estimation, this might not seem like good news, but it is.

The original bill allowed for only five operators, which was pretty fucking unrealistic. Seattle, as of this recent histrionic Seattle Times editorial, had 24 operating delivery services. As City Attorney Pete Holmes pointed out when I ran into him on January 19, those 24 services are, in his legal opinion, "knowingly committing felonies." Holmes confirmed (as the Times editorial urged so fervently) that the city is coming for their asses, advising them to close "tomorrow morning."

But people don't commit drug felonies when there ain't demand, and trying to divert that demand with a mere five operators was a pipe dream. Or, more likely, a bit of greed on the part of pot shops with the money for good lobbyists. Interestingly enough, some of the people who lobbied loudest at the city level for enforcement against illegal delivery services aren't necessarily itching to take over the delivery market. Logan Bowers, owner of Hashtag and vociferous City Council public commenter, told Geekwire he thought the bill was premature and would put employees at risk for robbery, as pot is still a cash business.

However, many cannabis retailers are already using PayQwick, a workaround cash management solution that allows pot businesses to process transactions with customers who don't have cash, in their brick and mortar locations. The service is easily adaptable to delivery, according to Mauricio Braun, PayQwick's COO.

"We're ready to go as soon as the law is passed," he said. "We're taking the cash out of the system." The service works by having customers pre-load PayQwick cards with money, keeping the transaction strictly between PayQwick and the customer's bank. PayQwick, as a non-cannabis-related business licensed by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, is totally kosher with payment processing. Pot businesses worried about their bike jockeys getting rolled for cash could simply require delivery customers to use the service.

Also of note, Rep. Hurst snuck in another small-but-important change to HB 2368: a limit of two couriers on the clock. Instead of a horde of bike messengers in Uncle Ike's jerseys roving the entire city, we can expect to see small delivery areas, which means the neighborhood pot shop will actually be servicing its own neighborhood. This also means that we'll have a better geographic distribution of delivery-enabled pot shops. All the cancer-stricken grannies in Shoreline can get their dope from Dockside's northern outpost, and I can get my weed lube from the ganja goddesses in SoDo without ever leaving my couch in South Park. Praise Jah!

This post has been updated.