The Washington State Liquor Control Board holds a hearing at 6 p.m. tonight at the Seattle Center Northwest Rooms on the final draft of rules to implement Initiative 502, the legal pot law supported by nearly 75% of Seattle voters.

The liquor board initially announced four such hearings in Olympia, Spokane, Ellensburg and Shoreline. Two days later, perhaps persuaded by a peppering of critical questions from Stranger news editor Dominic Holden—a geocentric urbanite unable to drive and scarcely willing to exit the confines of his Capitol Hill neighborhood let alone transit city borders—the liquor board added Seattle to the slate of hearings.

The board deserves kudos for the move. Seattle is the state’s most populous city, the place that will be most affected by the legal pot rules proposed by the liquor board, and the public transit hub for the entire metropolitan area. Beyond making it widely accessible, hosting it at the Seattle Center makes it fun. There’s plenty of food nearby, interesting stuff to observe, and outdoors galore—it is an ideal spot for a gathering of stoners (see here or here).

We previously distilled down the current draft of the rules. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

  • Should we limit the number of pot licenses one person may own? Liquor board member Chris Marr proposed such a license cap, saying, “In the absence of a cap, it will be possible and even probable that a few well-qualified, well-capitalized applicants will create an oligopoly market.” Calling it a “decision that will characterize our system for years to come,” Marr specifically asked for citizen feedback on this idea.
  • Should most pot be grown outdoors? After a California consulting firm helped convince the state to allow outdoor growing—a good thing—using bunk research that repeatedly criticizes indoor pot based on erroneously-copied source material—a bad thing—the state could be on course to source most of its legal pot supply from outdoor grows east of the mountains. A move by the Seattle City Council to severely restrict pot growing in the city’s industrial zones will also help push pot grows out of urban areas.
  • Should we force pot sellers to adulterate hash sold at retail? The liquor board is sticking to a ridiculous legal interpretation that prohibits the retail sale of hash and hash oil—unless those products are first adulterated with a non-pot substance like glycerin or propylene glycol. That means Seattle stoners won’t be able to buy hash without a lab worker first mucking it up with something that won’t get you high.

    And if the pot meeting starts to bore you—and it will—just take a safety break and go hang with the tourists, enjoy the giant spitting fountain or the single-track train of the future. The I-502 rules meeting begins tonight at 6 p.m. at the Seattle Center Northwest Rooms.