- You can still get the cannabis

- You can still get an exemption from the tax if you have an RX.

- Yes, there are a lot of people who don't actually have a medical need. Hell, there are well known lists of physicians that will give you a card with no questions asked as long as you give them a hundred or more dollars in payment.

for recreational use, in WA.

This is a solution in search of a "problem" that isn't, actually, one.

Edited to add: The legislative fix that might make more sense would be to bring WA's taxation scheme on rec. mj more in line with something reasonable, especially now that neighboring states (hello, Oregon) are bringing legalization on line with more reasonable taxation.

Legal weed won't work without basic safeguards and regulation. And if it fails here then that puts other states at risk for not passing it. Trust me, it's not a problem to go buy some weed here. I live in the burbs and there are two stores within 10 min drive in either direction. As long as the bill includes an exemption on taxes for medical use then I am in favor.

ETA - WA state taxes on stuff like this ("sin taxes&quot are always high because we have no income tax. You can argue that idea as a whole is bad, but that is how taxes roll here.

particular go beyond just sin taxes, which I also support.

I was reading a piece which stated the taxes on legal MJ in some areas was something like 20% state plus 20% "producer fee" plus 20-30% local, adding up to like 60% or 70%, which seems a bit onerous.

Once people can get a better deal by crossing the river into PDX, a lot will.

It sounds to me like more of an issue is tightening up the regs on who can get a medical exemption, but that in and of itself might be a large and expensive nut to crack from a regulatory stdpt.

And that happens when a producer sells to a distributor, and the distributor pays it when they sell to the user. So each transaction is taxed at 25%. I think when the distributor and producer are the same there is only one excise tax.

The user pays an additional sales tax. I think that is around 10% but I didn't save the receipt.

--that so many medical users depend on. Recreational stores don't give a shit about anything but THC.

I haven't heard anyone complaining about not being able to get what they need.

They will have to go to the recreational stores instead.

And no, they aren't going to be "eliminated."

ETA: from the link:

"The Liquor Control Board is supposed to license new stores and some of those could be current medical dispensaries switching to recreational stores, but just how many is up to the board. The bill sets out a list of businesses that should get priority for new licenses. At the top: Medical dispensaries that have been open since before January 2013 and that have applied to the Liquor Control Board for an I-502 license. In other words, people who’ve had an interest in the recreational marijuana game. As it stands today, at least 1,900 retail store applications have been submitted to the Liquor Control Board but not yet granted. We don’t know how many of those were submitted by medical business owners or by the same person applying for multiple licenses, but still—that’s a lot of people who may get a shot at a new license.

The process for getting medical growers up and running will be similar: The Liquor Control Board will have to reconsider the limits it has set on how much pot can be grown in the state and then open up more space to already licensed growers who want to produce new strains meant especially for medical use. Then, if those growers don’t use all the production space allowed, the Liquor Control Board can license new growers."

Senator Kohl-Welles, major state legislator defending medical marijuana, is against this. That ought to be enough for anybody.

And I buy weed here. Kohl-Wells is fine, but I can think for myself.

Not at recreational stores--not a single one in South Seattle or South King County cares about anything but THC.

Nothing in this effort to license medical sellers restricts that.

But it isn't.

... And I know a lot. Do you honestly think the state is going to build up recreational weed and then turn around and kill medical weed? Seriously?

For all we know medical grade pot could be loaded with pesticides, or other crap. The road to real medical marijuana is to regulate the producers to ensure a safe effective product.

--not to shut down a large chunk of the outlets for medical MJ

I work in the industry in Wa State. Some patients need up to three oz per day. At $20 - $30 per gram, they would have to pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars per day, and insurance doesn't cover it.

We have patients using up to three grams of RSO per day. The Retail stores don't sell RSO and they don't sell high CBD strains or oil. The liquor control board are sociopathic.

Just for my inoperable shoulder injury and arthritis, I would have to pay over $100 per day.

We would no longer be able to get RSO to cancer patients.

There will be a lot of martyrs because we will not abandon our patients.

.... For licenses. So your stance is they shouldn't have to be licensed???? I disagree.

This hair on fire attitude is ridiculous, IMO. Also, if someone needs 3 ounces a day then it's probably not an effective treatment.

Not to mention, THC is also medicinal. Why do you think it's not?

They only care about THC. Nothing wrong with that, except that many medical users really need the CBDs.

It's highly apparent that you do not live here, nor do you know anything about using marijuana as medicine.

Read the OP title.

Makes it perfectly relevant.

Got any other insults for me?

And you know nothing about the MMJ industry here.

And I think all sellers should be licensed. Especially medical sellers.

And I have seen your opinion on the matter. You know nothing about the needs of medical marijuana patients.

thing in OR...or damned close to it and at this particular time when congress is moving, albeit Slowly on establishing protections for medcanna patients.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/262/all-actions-with-amendments
(We should call them up, btw...)

I know I need to follow the money, but I'm not sure where to begin.