Comments

1
Am I the only one who thinks 1.4 million ounces is a bit... low?
2
Can I get a Hot Tub?

Seriously though, BC exports more MJ than that to this state.

If you aren't going to sell more than that, the black market will continue.
3
@1 They will be amending that as soon as it runs dry... Which it will... fast
4
What is the % of WA residents who live in Seattle and what is the % of pot stores in Seattle relative to the state? Sounds like the Liquor control board is trying to drum up business for cities outside of Seattle (Shoreline, Everett, Kent, etc.).
5
@1 that's what I thought. But I guess they had to pick some initial amount since this is all trailblazing stuff.

I would imagine those numbers can be increased at a future time provided they need to
6
@1 That was my reaction. The pot production limit is based on the state's estimate on how much pot Washingtonians consumed before I-502, which basically mean nothing: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/drug-…
7
That limit is fucking stupid. Proof positive that WSLCB can't do *anything* right. Set a limit that's so preposterously low, and you're begging for a black market. The dangers of the black market is why this law was passed in the first place.
8
6.7 million people in WA state. so... a 1/4 oz. per person per year?
9
@1 Well, they did run an online survey asking how much people smoke. If every stoner didn't fill that out honestly, then the results won't work. Can't fault the WSLCB's logic there.

Seriously, 40 tons is an embarrassingly low number. Did they forget a zero at the end?
10
further, Seattle is 9% of the state's population, 21/334 stores is 6% of the total.

11
@9: i filled out the survey honestly, but i smoke very little because its so hard to get, illegal, and potent. since the law passed, though, i've had my 60 year old neighbors tell me how they're going to start back up, and they haven't smoked in 30 years. i can fault their logic.

the WSLBC could have worked with the cops & the DEA to estimate the tonnage brought into the state from BC and elsewhere. or extrapolated from what the medical industry is producing.
12
7, I don't see it as incompetence, more like giving a plumbing job to a carpenter. What you (and pretty much everyone else who wants an end to the stupid War on Drugs) want is a stream-lined way in which people can buy & produce cannabis. To do so, in a country that has forced the rest of the world to participate in what can charitably be called insanity in regards to hemp & cannabis, requires imagination, street expertise, creativity & an ability to listen and learn. Qualities which are not valued or used in a bureaucracy (like the WSLCB).

The job was given to the WSLCB because of the legacy of that insanity. There are plenty of people out there pearl-clutching and scared about how 'demon pot' is going to destroy everything. Giving the job to bureaucrats is a palliative, an assurance that nothing rash is going to happen, that little Billy/Billie won't be kidnapped by hippies in the middle of the night, given marijuana cigarettes, and returned so they can sass back to their parents (all a clever commie plot, presumably.)

So we'll have these silly regulations for a few years. Other states will get on board (now that Holder has flipped the bird to the national police/sheriff organizations), they'll see the limitations of the WA system & do better. Not wanting to be upstaged, WA will improve their approach. Other countries will follow as well, raising the standard once again.

The biggest problem I see is to get *something* out & working, w/ a decent track record, before 2016. The GOP is hemorrhaging support, but that doesn't mean they still can't win a presidential election. A new AG, someone with all the charm of John Bolton, could quickly send the DEA after WA & CO again (after receiving a healthy kick-back from those afore-mentioned police organizations that are used to living fat off the Drug War and now that they have to live within their means, begin throwing tantrums.) We're not out of the woods, and I'd like some stupid, clunky rules out quickly than some nice, sleek, sensible guidelines that come out in the summer of '15.
13
They'll be dry a week after opening.
14
More math: If you smoke an eighth a week, that's 6.5 ounces a year. At 1,400,000 ounces available, only 215,384 people in WA can be regular smokers.
15
All I care about is where the pot stores will be on Capitol Hill and when I can hand them my moneys. Does the new rule mean any new potential locations besides 23rd and Union? Is it Dec/Jan when licenses are issued that I'll never see my friend Rufus again?

Also, I enjoy there is an example label for a product called "Space Cake" codified into WA state code.
16
Yep, I'm joining the chorus here... That's waaay too low a production limit. By maybe a factor of 5, or 6...

Wonder how long before they revise it? I'm thinking that the last thing they'd want is a bunch of upset stoners confronted with an "ALL OUT" sign at the brand-new legal pot shop....

17
Not everybody smokes weed. And not everybody who does smokes very much. I've found that five tiny hits of a modern strong strain is too many; an eighth of that stuff would last me at least five years. If you're smoking an eighth every week of the stuff I got, you have a problem.
18
that is 215,000 eights a week. I'm not sure that would be enough to supply Seattle, much less the rest of the state.

I know at least 3 architects in the area that smoke con-stant-ly, they are 1/4 to 1/2 a week types. If they don't get their smoke buildings could collapse. On children. WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE GODDAMN CHILDREN.

1. buy from state as much as possible
2. wait for state to go dry due to regulations written by teetotalers
3. ???
4. Profit.
19
2 million square feet / 30,000 is (rounding up) 67 producers in this state.

There are more producers than that in downtown seattle alone.
20
Divide 2 million by 30 thousand and you get (rounding up) 67 producers in this state.

In 2009 over 90,000 MJ plants were seized in outdoor grows in eastern washington. Figuring 16 square feet per plant (4'x4') that's 1.44 million square feet of "canopy" -- and that doesn't include MMJ or indoor grows. That's just outdoor.

2 million square feet seems very, very low. There are more than 67 producers in downtown seattle alone.

21
THERE WILL BE MORE VAPOR PEN SOLD THAN WEED WITHIN A YEAR
22
@17 - Same. Far be it from me to tell you how stoned you are/need to be, but an 1/8 of Purple AK-47 MK Ultracush or whatever a week? That seems kinda... zorched.

And for what it's worth, I might have noticed this morning the bottle of Templeton rye I thought I JUST bought is nearly empty, and I'm sure that in no way renders my above statement hypocritical.
23
Complete and utter bullshit, time for another ballot measure to remove control from the State.
24
Short supply + limited distribution + high taxes = high prices = black market. So glad we fixed that.
25
Do we cap the amount of alcohol that local brewers and distilleries can produce and sell?
26
My mouth is watering.
27
40 tons represents only about 10% of current in-state cultivation, not even including whatever is imported from OR or BC (both of which, I would posit is not inconsiderable). Granted, much of the cannabis grown here is destined either for the local MMJ market or for out-of-state consumption, which, SFAICT the current law does absolutely nothing to address; it's still illegal elsewhere, which simply means "more profitable to growers" willing to risk interdiction by the Feds.

Still, 40 tons seems like a very low estimate, IMNSHO. Either the WSLCB is really not in touch with the actual amount consumed (likely), or else they are purposefully trying to set the initial market prices as high as possible, in order to recoup the highest possible tax revenue (also likely). Either way, as @24 notes, this isn't exactly going to push the black market aside any time soon.
28
That production number doesn't mean jack shit. There's no way it is enforceable.
29
Why are there caps at all? Why don't we just let the market work it out?
30
Just curious, if there is another public input period and a date set for the FINAL rules, how is this considered final????
31
40 tons = 1.28 million ounces, unless you're using the British long ton, and then your math starts to work out better.
32
Stoked my local dealer's not going out of business! I like my pot from her grow room to my vaporizer without so much as being transported in a car.
33
It's a start. Remember, there are only two states that have legalized it. It's not like we've completely changed the world and it is legal everywhere. One of the key issues is whether weed flows to other states. It won't, because the price will be too high. Basically, there will be people who buy legal pot for the novelty factor (and because there are folks who would rather not break the law). As a result, it simply won't make sense to buy up pot here and sell it somewhere else. This is good, from a political standpoint. It will mean that California and Oregon will probably soon follow our lead. By then we can change the limit.

It's also good for the medical marijuana shops. They will slowly fade away, not be wiped out quickly by this. It is quite likely that the pot there will be cheaper (at least initially). Eventually, those shops will (hopefully) cater to only serious patients, as opposed to the folks who just want a chance to buy weed in a store .
34
Production limit too low. Black market won't be squeezed out at this rate. Retail prices will be high. Supply and demand does indeed apply to some situations...
35
Ehh. As one of those horrible pot tourists that so many people seem to decry I'm not all that that worried. I already decided that I was going to go to Denver for 4/20 as they have a better chance of having open shops by then, it's cheaper to get there, and they have a better chance of working out where out of towners are supposed to vape.

I'm thinking that by the time I want to take the long way to get to Eugene, Oregon everything should be squared away so I can have a nice vape in Seattle.
36
I still don't understand why the board of alcohol and cannabis trade aim to prohibit more than a limited amount of cultivation of cannabis. I think they should grant licenses to everyone who they find able and willing to operate in a safe and lawful manner and has paid the requisite fee.
37
@22, half a gram daily (the daily allotment of "an eighth a week") is well less than one joint a day. That isn't "zorched" even on the best pot. That is feeling a buzz maybe twice in 24 hours.
38
@31 The liquor board specifically said 40 "metric tons." A ton is 2,000 pounds, while a metric ton is 2,205 pounds.
39
Next up, Costco wants to sell it by the brick, and puts an initiative on the ballot.
Followed by indoor smoking rules being massaged to allow grown ups to go to bars and smoke.

And finally, this:
http://youtu.be/muA5EBmpDhA
40
@2 "BC exports more MJ than that to this state." Don't be a fucking dope - no one here is buying that shit and never were. It may be going to other states but not here and I don't think they even send it south of the border anymore...the people doing it simply started growing in the states...much easier.
41
Perhaps they're starting small simply because they don't know enough about how the regulatory system will work in practice.

It makes much more sense to start with a smaller system, iron out the kinks, and then scale it up. Why would you set up a massive bureaucracy 10 times larger on day one, and face the prospect of trying to overhaul it 6 months later when you can see which parts of the original plan are broken?
42
"That's around 4 ounces of pot a year per Hempfest attendee. "

For everything else there's the black market. I know people that go through an ounce every 2 weeks, this just isn't going to fly if on a monthly basis the pot stores are out. People will buy it from people with medical cards and resell it for profits. This is stupid as fuck.
43
Basic economic theory says to destroy a black market you need to flood the market with cheaper legal MJ. Which means more by a factor of at least 10. And then increase until the black market goes away, with enforcement.

But that's economics, which cares nothing about the failed ideologies of the GOP and the Democrats who enable them.

Please wait...

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