Still meeting opposition to Initiative 502, which passed by an 11 percent margin in the state, the impact of 502 crescendos to national level attention and through previous medical marijuana initiatives that have been policy as far back as 1996 for California.
Washington Initiative 692 in 1998, made the state, along with Oregon and Alaska, the second in line, adopting decimalization and/or medical use of cannabis.
With the expansion of states across the nation adopting medical use or at least decimalization for medical patients, in the past 18 years, over half of the United States, including Washington D.C. have voted-in medicinal use policies. And with the passing of I-502, Washington state legislators are taking the opportunity to clarify and change past medicinal marijuana use via bills like House Bill 2149, which is a bill that looks at the amount a registered medical user can grow and further limits possession laws and is currently into its third reading in the senate; HB 2144, looking at local or municipalities jurisdiction funds and excise tax revenue to local jurisdictions, still in public discussion; and SB 5887, the merging of medical and recreational marijuana systems, through its first reading in the House, and returned to the Senate Rules Committee for a third reading.
Local impact to Pacific County has seen a yet realized revenue base that is filling port and industrial areas, with investors, yet still has not impacted the void of jobs.
With production operations in the state just starting to receive permission to operate, a license, granted to a Spokane operation driven by Sean Green, chief executive of Kouchlock Productions is the first in the state to enter into the industry as a Tier III producer.
Production of cannabis sativa has been sub-divided by size of total operation under the Tier system of licensing; producer, processor and retailer. A Tier I producer has a smaller operation, 2,000 square feet or less vs. a Tier III producer, greater than 10,000 square feet but not more than 30,000 square feet of total operation. And recent legislation limits producers to a 70 percent utilization of space to look at the possibility of granting producer/processor licensing.
With a short production cycle, average 8-9 weeks from seed to harvestable product, it is estimated that recreational retail operations could be legally selling by Memorial Day 2014, yet the State estimates a full year from initial vote to full implementation for recreational use.
The state has limited the number of retail licenses to 334 statewide, and further decided that a Retail License Lottery will be held to determine who will actually operate, based on overwhelming number of applicants. The decision has not gone well with current medicinal marijuana operators that looked at the possibility to expand their operations and see the decision as unfair where professionalism is concerned.
As the state is setting up rules and regulations for the production and sale of marijuana, local law enforcement will have the burden of distinguishing the level of abuse in the communities. Set as an adult activity, recreational users must be 21 years if age and can partake in the practice “out of the view of the general public.” The vague definition of what this really means will be a matter of public debate in the future, as people will test the limits of re-configured laws. The law is specific in the restrictions as to retail locations making sure that they are not in proximity to schools, parks and general public locations, where the perceived influence may tempt those under legal age. With hours of operations between 8 am – 12 am.
It is clear as to how much any legal age recreational user can possess at any one time; a combination of; one ounce of useable marijuana, 16 ounces of infused marijuana in solid form and 72 ounces of infused marijuana in liquid form, and gives guidance on acceptable intoxicant levels for addressing current “Under the Influence” laws. Though police may be able to quickly determine what an individual has in hand, it will be more difficult to determine marijuana’s active ingredient, delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and the level currently determined at 5 nanograms of active THC metabolite per milliliter of whole blood (5 ng/mL) to be “Under the Influence” as a recreational user. As well, it will require a blood test as opposed to a roadside Breathalyzer test utilized for drinking under the influence.
Implantation of I-502 is still far from complete and it is much a “wait-and-see” proposition. Local municipalities both in Raymond and South Bend as well at the Pacific County Commissioners are starting to see more items come across their tables with the growth of the new industry in the area.