Change on the horizon in Washington

Flickr user Jose Manuel Rios Valiente 

In late April, Governor Jay Inslee inked a revised SB-5052 into law. Though Governor Inslee made some minor line item vetoes to the bill before he signed it, revised SB-5052 remains in substantially the same form as when it left the Senate and the House. 

The 58-page bill contains many, many regulations for the “new” medical-recreational cannabis hybrid industry, including the below highlights

· There now exists a voluntary patient registry. 

· Patients who fail to register with the state will not enjoy the same tax breaks or increased possession amounts that registered patients will. Patients that register themselves with the state and obtain a state-issued patient authorization card “may purchase at a retail outlet holding a medical marijuana endorsement a combination of the following: 48 ounces of marijuana-infused product in solid form; three ounces of useable marijuana; 216 ounces of marijuana-infused product in liquid form; or twenty-one grams of marijuana concentrates.”

· Patients who opt to register with the state may also “grow, in his or her domicile, up to six plants . . . and possess up to eight ounces of useable marijuana produced from his or her plants.”

· If a patient foregoes the registry, he or she will only be legally entitled to the same single ounce of useable cannabis as all other adults 21 and older can possess under I-502.

· Qualifying patient cooperative grows are permitted for up to four patients (with a maximum of 60 plants) if they are at least 15 miles from a retail outlet and if everyone participating is in the foregoing qualifying patient registry. Only one cooperative garden is allowed per tax parcel.

· In-person visits with health care providers will be required for patients to secure medical cannabis authorization cards and health care professionals will need to have a documented relationship with the patient as a principal care provider or specialist.

· Existing I-502 retailers can apply to hold “medical marijuana endorsements” that will allow them to sell cannabis for medical use to qualifying patients and designated providers.

· The Board must develop “a competitive, merit-based application process that includes, at minimum, the opportunity for an applicant to demonstrate experience and qualifications in the marijuana industry. Operating a collective garden before [application] and having a business license and a history of paying sales tax to the department of revenue may be factors used to establish the experience and qualifications of the applicant.”

· The Board’s existing 1,000 feet perimeter around schools, playgrounds, recreation centers, child care centers, parks, public transit centers and arcades would still apply, and will apply with equal force to licensed businesses with medical cannabis endorsements.

· Collective gardens (and their associated “access points”) as they are currently structured under RCW 69.51A would be phased out by July 1, 2016.

The signing of this bill merges 20 years of medical cannabis with Washington’s Initiative 502. This makes Washington the first state to significantly pare-down its medical cannabis program and roll it into adult use cannabis; Colorado simply combines its two very robust cannabis systems, but allows each one to stand alone under its own regulations and laws. Now, Washington’s medical cannabis industry will be mostly dominated by the rules and laws that make up I-502.