Pullout Oct 30, 2013 at 4:00 am

Here's Our Northwest Green Guide!

Comments

1
In many ways the most important sentence in this story for me is about,"...trying to gut our medical marijuana law."

That is actually happening NOW under the radar. I'm surprised media hasn't caught on and isn't covering what just happened to MMJ (medical marijuana) in WA.

Here's a story for a good investigative journalist:

From the Washington State Liquor Control Board (LCB) release on 21 Oct 13:

DRAFT Recommendations of the Medical Marijuana Work Group

Budget Proviso Language: 3ESSB 5034 Sec. 141(2):
(a) The liquor control board must work with the department of health and the department of revenue to develop recommendations for the legislature regarding the interaction of medical marijuana regulations and the provisions of Initiative Measure No. 502. At a minimum, the recommendations must include provisions addressing the following:
(i) Age limits;
(ii) Authorizing requirements for medical marijuana;
(iii) Regulations regarding health care professionals;
(iv) Collective gardens;
(v) Possession amounts;
(vi) Location requirements;
(vii) Requirements for medical marijuana producing, processing and retail licensing; and
(viii) Taxation of medical marijuana in relation to recreational marijuana.
(b) The board must submit its recommendations to the appropriate committees of the legislature by January 1, 2014. END OF QUOTE

First of all, specifically who makes up this Medical Marijuana Work Group (MMWG)?

Employees at WSLCB, Dept. of Health (DOH) and Dept. of Revenue (DOR) were charged to issue recommendations to the state legislature regarding what to do with MMJ as the state rolls out its recreational system.

See the recommendations here:
https://lcb.app.box.com/draft-recommenda…

Here's the thing no one is paying attention to: If the legislature were to adopt these proposed rules, MMJ in WA would be gone...GONE, with the exception of requiring MMJ patients to buy cannabis for medical use from ONLY 502 recreational retailers. Patients with valid medical recommendations would not be charged retail sales and use tax (about 10% or less depending on locality).

Growing for personal use: GONE!

Using a designated caregiver to grow supply: GONE!

Collective Gardens (up to 45 plants for 3-10 patients): GONE!

MMJ Farmers Market: GONE!

Initially, up to 334 retail licenses will be issued. For example, this leaves 21 stores for all of Seattle, which is now served by 150-250 dispensaries/access points.

What does this tell us?

For one, access to cannabis for medical use is going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for thousands of Washington residents.

For another, at a minimum, the state (actually a group of very few people) is trying to protect its nascent recreational system with a cynical and uncompassionate slap in the face of their citizens who happen to be MMJ patients.

There are rumors to check out such as the people picked in the MMWG were known to be unsupportive of MMJ to begin with, and were picked for this reason. Worth looking into...

Did WA throw MMJ under the bus to placate prohibitionists at Justice to get them to green-light WA & CO recreational systems?

MMJ was passed in WA in 1998. If these recommendations are adopted, we have just taken an enormous step backwards.

Are the people of Washington willing to let this happen?

What should we do instead? License and regulate MMJ as a separate system, at least until we know that one system will meet both recreational and medical needs.

Why? Prohibition never works, makes things worse and costs more.

These recommendations, if implemented, guarantee a larger, more robust black market – not to mention RE-criminalizing thousands of WA citizens, the opposite of what is needed for safe access and humane laws.

2
A good start on reporting this mess:

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/can-t…
3
Don't forget about hemp. --- http://www.hemp.com (and California recently legalized the growing of hemp,now they don't need to import it from Canada,China,and Russia.Patent # 6630507,anybody?Pfft!!!)
4
@1

Good points all... but you're leaving out the fact that at the moment the vast majority of "medical" users are simply recreational users who paid some quack doctor $150 to write them a prescription for "back pain".

Legalize yes, but if you want to keep MMJ around then it needs to be something a lot more medical and a lot less quack tax than the current system.
6
Stoners don't read Dominic Holden's "articles". they know he's a traitor.
7
@4 Do you have any evidence to back up your claim? Most people I know with authorizations are legitimate patients with a need.

What does "a lot more medical" mean?

Why should a person who chooses to medicate with cannabis for their back pain be taxed into oblivion while that same person can get oxycodone paid for by the state?
9
@7 Frank, I understand that you find pretty much every use of marijuana "legitimate" and "medicinal", but there are legal definitions regarding medial marijuana that are contrary to your views.

11
"The rules would remain the same as they currently are for medical marijuana — no registration requirements and no database." - Dominic Dumbass Holden.

This is the horse-shit you sold i502 with, Holden. Either your part of the lie or plain naive. You don't drive, so you don't care, but the bullshit pot DUI you backed will screw with peaceful peoples lives.

Lame Holden. With all the vitriol you pushed i502 on us, with all the lies, political hand-jobs, one would hope you would give the truth about the oncoming gutting of our medical laws more then one line at the end of your worthless cheerleading article. Pathetic.

If you can't grow, it ain't legal.
13
Maybe we should have "medical alcohol" now.
14
It's all bullshit when it comes to politics.
Peace
15
For many sick and suffering citizens in Washington the medical cannabis collective models are critical for their continued wellness. For others the ability to grow their own cannabis at home allows them access to cost effective whole plant cannabis.
The sick and dying who use cannabis for medicinal applications do not have the revenue to use the recreational model and would be harmed by this new change to a well functioning medical cannabis program.
This effort to destroy the medical cannabis program should be a "kiss of death" for any politician..and should the prohibitionist continue to subvert the will of the good compassionate voters of Washington they should be run out of their offices.
To support a change in the medical cannabis laws is simply supporting needless suffering of the sick and dying.
Shame upon any legislator or bureaucrat who supports these changes suggested by the LCB.
16
The whole "medical" marijuana regimen was and is a big money scam. I went that route and never will again. Between the hundred and fifty dollar "exam" and four hundred dollar an ounce weed the whole rotten scheme needs to die and take its profiteering scammers with it. Marijuana is about as hard to grow as hay and that sells for two hundred dollars a ton.
17
"This effort to destroy the medical cannabis program should be a "kiss of death" for any politician..and should the prohibitionist continue to subvert the will of the good compassionate voters of Washington they should be run out of their offices."

@15: You nailed it ... I'm not sure why certain non-cannabis-smoking hipsters end up being so negative towards medical marijuana (yeah, thanks for the compassion for those in daily pain, assholes. To those fuckwads, I say: I genuinely hope you get ass cancer and have your insides fall out). And no, there's a whole lot of suffering you DON'T see ... obviously you've never seen the inside of a dispensary waiting room. There are people in there due to their need to reduce suffering, not just bored, sullen, Seattle hipsters wanting merely to get high.

I-502 was indeed a con-job. In the interest of revenue and greed, this state was willing to throw those that suffer under the bus, in favor of HUGE piles of cash the corrupt will now collect in a setting where recreational desires trump medical needs. And the corrupt must pay ... and will. There's a cost for willfully causing suffering in others. For one thing (although I favor a somewhat different approach) I know of several people of substantial financial means that are talking real commitment regarding BIG TIME GOING-AFTER those legislators that are willing to sell suffering people down the river. "You make ME suffer??? I make you suffer MORE." That's the way you bring about justice.

Oh sure, you can get a bunch of folks together, pool maybe $50k or more on a campaign (buy full page ads) to make a compelling enough argument to not only turn local hearts and minds against those heartless, hack politicians ... Hell, let's have us some real fun! Hire private investigators to fing every little personal secret, every little grey-area shady expenditure, every sneaky little marital infidelity. Everyone's got something to hide, and whether you like it or not, it's a big bad dog-eat-dog world (which hasn't yet fully dawned on the way-too-passive locals). But that's just my view, MMJ having done little to curb my being more like Jax Teller than Leonard from "The Big Bang Theory," so that instantly puts me at odds with about 95% of local weenie-ism.

Bottom line (and this has always been a great axiom):

"Don't get mad ... Get EVEN."

18
This plant has been around for how many 1000s of years?

Henry motherfucking Anslinger
19
Washington's Veterans for Compassionate Care is a program driven health care delivery model that provides CBD Whole Plant Botanical Cannabis therapy to the Warfighter community.
After careful review of the proposed amendments to the medical cannabis program of Washington State, we have concluded that the proposed changes by the advisory group to the LCBD to merge the medical cannabis program into I-502 regulations is harmful and unacceptable to the disabilities community.
This would effectively end the ability of Washington Veteran medical cannabis patients to have whole plant botanical cannabis substance access.

Our Veteran medical cannabis patients use cannabis therapy to help relieve the effects of PTSD,
CTE , amputations, shrapnel fragments and physical injuries sustained in their service to this nation. Like many of their fellow citizens, they are living under difficult economic stressors.
But unlike other state citizens, the Veteran community is increasingly vulnerable to conditions not prone to occur in the general population and because of unique conditions, require different and often difficult living situations that expose them to additional issues of health and well being.
The Veterans simply cannot afford to lose the ability to have whole plant botanical cannabis access under their own ability or the collective models that have worked so well to provide the needed raw plant material.

Because of their unique situations, many of our Veterans who provide their own whole plant botanical cannabis material do so knowing the unique characteristics of the plants they sow and the direct relief they receive as a result. They are able to absolve their own pains and often times the process of tilling the soil and growing their own makes for an enduring recipe of balance and wellness not achievable via pharmaceuticals.
As well, the existing cannabis regulations of 15 plants per patient, with the dried flower amounts currently within the law, and the collective garden model, are necessary for those sick and injured who are not able to garden for themselves. This is a new model that has had its share of growing pains, not least of which is having to operate in a vacuum, without the proper infrastructure other mainstream businesses are able to leverage. Yet, this new model has overcome a great deal of resistance and is working fairly well, with some accompanying problems, which continue to find solutions because of the urgent need in the community.

What would be an advancement to this model, would be a regulatory system for the safe access
points…insuring that they are providing to those in the Cannabis Civilization who are using the medicinal applications of the cannabis plant to replace large levels of highly toxic prescription medications that cause serve side effects, thus providing the safe access points protection and regulation under Washington law.

We the citizens of the state of Washington voted via initiative 692 to allow for a medical cannabis
program for approved patients to access Whole Plant Botanical Cannabis in raw form in November of
1998. I-502 w
as an initiative crafted to allow for the development of a commercial Cannabis industry to evolve and was it voted into law by the citizens of the state of Washington in 2012.
The state was given a mandate via this initiative to craft a set of rules and regulations to develop an infrastructure complete with proper operating protocols for a setting up this new industry.

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