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Jesus Malverde

(10,274 posts)
Fri Oct 18, 2013, 12:26 PM Oct 2013

State Pot Officials Can Exhale - Washington State

With little fanfare in a drab conference room, the state Liquor Control Board adopted rules for a legal marijuana system after 10 months of research, revisions, wrangling with the federal government and wrestling with who-would’ve-imagined questions.

In a unanimous vote Wednesday, state officials charted the course for an experiment that seeks to undercut illegal dealers and launched the next leg of the journey: licensing a recreational-pot industry serving customers with 334 retail stores.

Adults will be able to walk into stores between 8 a.m. and midnight beginning next year to buy small amounts of marijuana products, including buds and brownies produced with state-certified safe levels of pesticides and other chemicals.

“The Washington state Liquor Control Board just built the template for responsible legalization of marijuana,” said Alison Holcomb, chief author of the legal-pot law. Holcomb is traveling to England, Poland and the Netherlands in coming weeks to discuss Washington’s law and rules, and is part of a new panel studying the idea in California.


http://www.cannabisnews.org/state-pot-officials-can-exhale/2013/10/18/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CannabisNews-MedicalMarijuanaMarijuanaNewsHempCannabis+%28Cannabis+News+-+Medical+Marijuana%2C+Marijuana+News%2C+Hemp%2C+Cannabis%29


In those stores, marked by a single sign that can’t be much bigger than 3 feet by 3 feet under the rules, consumers won’t be able to sample products. They will be able, however, to smell samples through screened containers that do not allow them to touch pot.

Childproof packaging will be required for edible products. All packages will contain warning labels saying marijuana has intoxicating effects and may be habit-forming. Labels will warn consumers of health risks, particularly the risks for pregnant women.

They also will show potency, as measured in percentage of THC, the key psychoactive chemical in pot.



Labels will disclose all pesticides used in the growing of the product. Consumers can ask retailers for full test results of chemicals and foreign matter found in products.

State-regulated pot can’t be labeled organic, Simmons said, because the federal government bestows that standard and it still considers marijuana a dangerous drug. But the state is using federal standards for organic products as a model for its rules, he said.

Prices in stores will be determined by the market, not state officials. But state consultants have written about scenarios in which prices could range between $6 and $17 per gram depending on wholesale farm prices and markups.

Consumers will be able to buy pot grown under the sun in outdoor farms, as well as weed grown indoors, which uses more electricity and has a larger carbon footprint.

The rules give an advantage to indoor growers, Simmons acknowledged. That’s because rules limit all farms to a maximum of 30,000 square feet and indoor farms can produce four harvests a year compared with two for outdoor growers in Washington state.


But Simmons said the state wants to make sure it meets the estimated demand for 80 metric tons of pot next year. It might not if it cut the size of indoor farms, he said, and if it doubled the size of outdoor farms it might antagonize federal watchdogs.

Simmons believes demand will increase in time, and when the state expands its supply that will provide an opportunity for outdoor growers to make up ground.

State officials believe the 334 pot stores, which are allocated similarly to the state’s defunct liquor stores, will be enough. But Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes has asked the state to consider allocating more stores to the city than the 21 it has planned.
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msongs

(70,170 posts)
2. state run pot shops are still prohibition and won't work. lack of choice, too much regulation, plus
Fri Oct 18, 2013, 01:04 PM
Oct 2013

stigmatization of customers.

tridim

(45,358 posts)
3. It's a little restrictive, but it's still legal cannabis!
Fri Oct 18, 2013, 02:19 PM
Oct 2013

I would just be so happy to be able to grow two plants for myself three times a year. That's all I want.

Warren DeMontague

(80,708 posts)
4. It's a huge improvement, plus for the time being it provides additional protection IMHO from
Fri Oct 18, 2013, 04:37 PM
Oct 2013

over-zealous Federal action.

We have state run liquor stores here in OR. It's an anachronism, but then so is not pumping our own gas.

This is a massive change, and I think the days of prohibition are numbered.

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