Editorial - Unregulated Medical Marijuana Market Is Creating A Hazy Future

[Shandar]

The world is watching Washington's historic experiment with marijuana legalization, and we're screwing it up.

A painstakingly slow launch of recreational marijuana stores, with their sky-high prices and scarcity in Seattle, gets most headlines. But the truth is that experiment is utterly undermined by a much larger, wildly unregulated medical-marijuana market.

Medical-marijuana dispensaries appear to outnumber Starbucks stores in Seattle, yet local regulators and law-enforcement agencies are doing almost nothing to police bad actors hiding behind the ubiquitous green crosses.

Last week, in a brief random test, Seattle Times editorial writers visited three medical-marijuana dispensaries to see if they even checked for medical authorization, as required by law.

At two storefronts – which employees identified as Seattle Caregivers in the Chinatown International District and as the 420 Collective on Rainier Avenue South – a writer bought a small amount of marijuana without being asked to show such authorization.

That's a clear violation even of the state's muddled medical-marijuana law. Neither store demanded to see the writer's proof of age, raising the possibility of an underage sale. In fact, neither has so much as a city business license for their address, according to city records, violating one of the few Seattle regulatory laws regarding dispensaries.

The experiment took all of 30 minutes and $20 – enough time to make two quick purchases that are indistinguishable from black-market transactions. That's also time enough to confirm suspicion that Seattle leaders either don't seem to give a rip about wink-and-a-nod storefront dispensaries or are apathetic about what to do.

Not all dispensaries are bad actors. One storefront, The Green Door in the International District, turned away The Times writer for failing to have an authorization.

But the failure to distinguish good from bad – to put basic rules on a gray market industry – erodes the cornerstone of Washington's landmark legalization experiment.

The Legislature's abysmal failure to integrate medical- and recreational-marijuana markets last session is largely to blame. This year, lawmakers should urgently tackle such regulations early in the session, starting with debate on a smart proposal by Seattle Democrat state Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles. And they should wrap up a solution quickly.

Olympia's past failures on marijuana policy shouldn't be an excuse for inaction in Seattle, the state's capital of weed.

The city already has a law that effectively bans "major" medical-marijuana operations from opening after November 2013. Yet, Seattle continues to crank out business licenses for marijuana operations – at least 60 since the supposed ban went into place, according to city staff.

It cashes the checks, and makes the problem worse.

Mayor Ed Murray's office is preparing a plan to create a regulatory marijuana license, similar to liquor permits. That could be a useful tool. But it is no excuse to ignore existing authority, including criminal charges against black-market dealers masquerading as dispensaries.

The world is watching. The state Legislature and Seattle are screwing this up.

News Moderator: Shandar @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: The Seattle Times | News, sports, weather, events in the Northwest
Authors: Editorial board members: Kate Riley, Frank A. Blethen, Ryan Blethen, Jonathan Martin, Thanh Tan, Blanca Torres, Robert J. Vickers, William K. Blethen (emeritus) and Robert C. Blethen (emeritus).
Contact: Services | Seattle Times Newspaper
Website: Editorial: Unregulated medical-marijuana market is creating a hazy future | Editorials | The Seattle Times

 

[cannilingus]

i am expecting them, to inform all of us medical persons, that since they have the "state stores" now, we no longer need our "AUTHORIZATIONS", or, need to grow for ourselves. this will make sure that they are the only profiteer. and, i would not be surprised, if growing outside of state controled pot scam, will result in fines, and imprisonment, of perhaps 30 years ago. I myself, while being a regular voter, have never voted for legalizing pot. ever. i dont believe its the wonder drug. i do believe it can harm ones lungs. (i have three disesases in the ol windbags), and if it cure all the cancers, which is does not, it also kills ambition. especially in the young. and, this being the case, how do all these peeps hold a job, with the drug testing they do? they dont. get stoned and live off the doles. sad. im retired now. so no testing for me. but, i can see this state pot going up in price. here, i have heard a gram is like 28. and, government, espscially a liberal stinkfarm that washington is, well, its going to keep going up in price. time for a small bong. i cant hardly smoke anymore, with my old airbags....

 

[Pistolero]

I'm all up for having an age limit for MJ. The smart students don't do or try it and move on with their education. Many end up liking the pleasures of smoking and neglect their education. In a CNN report it states that the brain is still developing in this stage of life and the pleasure part of the brain works at its optimum, whilst the ability to reason and think ahead are still developing.
It's very important that we be responsible smokers as well as sellers to make it more legally available not just in the National Market but Internationally too.
Best

 

[pucker huddle]

If weed was selling for ten dollars an ounce at the retail stores like it should be, We wouldn't have all these stores open for long now would we. Sadly the WA lcb thinks they are the new pot mafia and THEY can control the pot market. Next July, Any household in Oregon that wants to, Can grow weed. Now that is FAR closer to being legal in my eyes. Twenty sum bucks a gram are you kidding me? Myself and others have spent decades risking jail and prison time growing pot and we never made that much money on it. Something is rotten in WA.

 

[mrrobert420]

This is just crazy

 

[pucker huddle]

" But the truth is that experiment is utterly undermined by a much larger, wildly unregulated medical-marijuana market."
This is not some experiment. We voted for it and it passed. Who do you think we are here in WA?

 

[cannilingus]

i did not vote to legalize. and wont. overall, is the word. overall, i think its a bad idea. any of us, can get pot. we allways did. we allways will. the state, just used the legalization thing, in order to eventurally take control, of everything. mostly profits. seattle is a heavy liberal base. i figure, that most who voted to legalize, did NOT read the text in full. they just saw "leagalize", and voted yes. smart voters, is what this country is lacking. and they push for no id to vote? idiots. they just figure all will be on their side. so who cares. well, lots of us care. not all of us, are leftys. i allways was. up to and including voting for slick willy. i matured. i learned. i saw thru the cracks. never vote stoned. never vote ignorant of the facts. if you cant do this, then maybe some people should not vote. "vote for him! he gave me cell phone!"-ug! now that was intelligent. lol. we need to stay ALERT, before we vote.

 

[cannilingus]

my hobby and i have been companions since before med. lol. and, after med is gone, still will. and, a bit more........affluent.

 

[cannilingus]

well, seattle, with their numbers, pretty much has allways dictated the voteing results. riberal, all the way. dixie lee rae, while republican, was voted in, for pc reasons. much like our curretn loser preseident was, and, since, all his loser, un qualified appointees have been . this is not an opionion. its truth, as well. any state/county/city/ that went broke was allways a liberal run one. like thatcher said, "the problem with liberalism, is that sooner or later, you run out of other peoples money".