State Legislators Consider New Regulations for Medical Marijuana Industry

This week, Washington State Senate committees are conducting hearings over new proposed laws that would be applied to medical marijuana industry.

Medical pot advocates have gathered in Olympia to pressure legislators to make sure the state's estimated 127,000 medical marijuana patients aren't squeezed out of their treatments.

Last spring, a bill that would have brought the medical marijuana industry under the umbrella of the Liquor Control Board was shot down in the legislature.  It would have applied the same standards for manufacture, processing and sale of medical pot used by the state stores.  Critics successfully argued it would make the drug unavailable to most of the medical marijuana users.

Now, the state is considering new laws that would restrict medical marijuana shops from selling actual dried pot. Instead, they would only be allowed to sell edibles, and concentrates such as hash oil.

Supporters of this system say the medical marijuana industry is largely unregulated, and unlicensed shops are undercutting the state pot stores.  Opponents say while they favor some regulation to ensure quality products for users, they fear pot will become so expensive they cannot afford it. Medical marijuana advocates point out their system has run just fine since it was approved by voters many years ago.

These proposed bills would also eliminate certain collective growing gardens. Currently the state allows card-carrying medical pot users to individually or collectively grow a limited number of plants on their own property.

When the supporters of I-502 were trying to gather support for legalized recreational pot, they all but promised the medical marijuana industry wouldn't be negatively affected if the bill passed. But since it has, medical pot has been steadily squeezed by those who believe it's "competing" with the state stores.