...perhaps even dominating the market

Boeing.

Microsoft.

Hemp Depot.

The new monopoly for funding Sound lifestyles begins.

Let's say this happens, and somehow the feds leave it alone (two big ifs).

Where is marijuana going to be displayed in the stores? There's limited floor space and it's devoted to liquor now. So you want to reduce the selection of liquor? Force the state to find larger store locations? Reconfigure the stores so that the pot is behind the counter crammed into lots of little boxes like cigarettes in a convenience store?

I also wonder about whether it would create a magnet for people to rob stores and sell merchandise out of state.

I guess it just seems safer to me if the stuff is sold more widely, or liquor is allowed in stores so that there's more room for marijuana on the shelves.

Funny. They say:

In 2003, Seattle was one of the first places in America to vote to make simple marijuana possession the lowest police priority. That, too, was a leap of faith, and the right decision.

Yet in 2003 they called it a "dopey idea" that was a craven move towards greater legalization from out of state interests.

This page does not support it.

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.c…

Nice to see a change of heart at the Times, and definitely a turning point in the discussion around here I think.

Cascadian @2,

So let me get this straight... the uptight establishment types at the Seattle Times come out in support of LEGALIZING MARIJUANA and you're fretting the retail display?

Goldy, I'm buying my weed at Safeway or no deal!

If Marijuana consumption is legalized, then a concerted effort should be made to discourage smoking it. Otherwise, and new generation of Americans with lung disease will be created.

Finally a few more sane voices. If it takes the money side to pull them in, so be it. I won't "fret" about the stores - it won't be pretty but so what?

@6 - I'm no expert but I've heard about vaporizers for a much safer delivery system.

@2, maybe the liquor stores could just stop carrying wine and beer. Both wine and beer are carried in most grocery stores, and some of those keep a better selection in stock than the state storefronts do. That would free up at least some room.

@2, the places in amsterdam that went from being a bar to being a pot seller have had little trouble finding space. Space really isn't a problem, as any weed dealer can show you by opening their "display" that amounts to a half gallon tupperware. What is a problem is that theres no distributorship. No packaging, no marketing, no middleman. The liquor board would have to expand to take a raw product and package it for retail. Not insurmountable, but much more of an issue than shelf space... think about the volume an eighth takes up compared to a fifth.

@12 the price of weed will drop if there are lower cost alternatives to the black market (grey markets use legal channels). We already have jack booted thugs on staff to kick in the doors of pot growers and smokers who break the rules. Legalization won't cause a huge wave of people introduced to weed at the state run stores to buy from the black market even if it's cheaper because weed isn't addictive.

@6: prove it. provide a study that shows one case of lung disease from cannabis alone, after thousands of years of use, prove it, or would you rather i show you studies that show cannabis decimating cancer cells, because i have that one, i just cannot find proof that cannabis causes cancer. either way, one should vaporize to avoid hydrocarbon inhalation, but its noi more dangerous than a campfire, or if it is, prove it, lol

Yes! It is about time folks started thinking this way. However, be aware that we will have a fight on our hands once it is legalized. Monsanto is already trying to grab up strains. Check this out. http://www.420magazine.com/forums/420-po…