Is it legal to have seeds sent to Washington state

[Dr Krieger]

I've been looking for a high CBD strain to grow and after brushing up with state laws senate bill 5131 allows medical patients to purchase clones and seeds from a licensed producer. That bill included a way for patients to purchase clones and seeds because around 2016 they messed up the laws and there was no way for a medical patient to acquire a clone or seeds to start growing aside from joining a cooperative which then had to get plants from a licensed producer.

I still remember after I got my authorization at age 17 and went into a dispensary for the first time in 2016 before the law changed and all retailers HAD to be recreational and COULD get a medical endorsement if they wished. There's basically no incentive for any recreational store to do get a medical endorsement because all it does is give medical patients a discount. Most stores don't because it's extra training for their staff, they have to have the hardware to make a laminated card for patients, they get in trouble if they mess up and can be fined (I actually was turned away earlier because after getting my authorization renewed the store didn't recognize that the paper the authorization was printed on was "tamper resistant" and wouldn't help me so I couldn't buy from that shop because I was 20 at the time). The dispensary I first went to had a high CBD sour tsunami clone just sitting there that I bought on the spot. (which died shortly after because I was inexperienced with growing)

I looked around but there's only a handful of producers with any sort of web presence that offer medical patients clones or seeds. There are even less that have any mention of any CBD strains (that's not what sells well to the recreational shops which is where the producers get their profits from aside from selling to other producers). The only producer I could find that has a high CBD strain listed, I've contacted and they didn't have any in stock and have a 10 clone minimum purchase at 20$ each clone. I'd have to wait until the strain is back in stock then drive almost 600 miles (round trip), spend 200$ on plants and get 10 when I only need 1 or 2 to get started. Most if not all the producers offering that service are on the west side of the state and that's about 300 miles away from me. Long drives make the muscle spasms I got my authorization for worse. I even looked up some producers in my county and after digging around for a while I found a phone number from the Better Business Bureau's website. I called explaining the situation but the guy on the phone had no idea about medical marijuana laws and said they wouldn't sell unless you have a producer's license (which the state doesn't give out currently you have to buy out an existing business to get one). However when I google "Washington state marijuana seeds" there's several sites that are listed and I haven't found any that ship from within the state. As far as I know moving "Marijuana" as defined in that same bill (which includes seeds in the definition) across state lines isn't legal. From what I understand the point of having producers sell to patients was that the state had some sort of tracking system and online sellers circumvents that system.

All I want is some Charlotte's web and/or Harlequin to help with my condition but I want to make sure that everything I do is legal (at least at the state level, I don't think federal legalization isn't coming for a while) because the last thing I want is the cops or feds knocking at my door over a high CBD strain I bought that I want to grow for my own medical use.

Am I missing something here or is the only legal way for me to get a plant started to drive across the state and hope that there's a high CBD strain in stock?

 

[Justin Goody]

Order them as novelty seeds, for research purposes (not for growing) and do what you need to do. I’m in WA state, just received my @SeedsMan order. They have a great CBD strain (dr seedsman) and many others. They ship from overseas and it arrives in a completely unrelated USPS package. If you want to order from a US producer, someone on here can point you in the right direction to get them the fastest. Best of luck, it’s great to finally grow your own medicine instead of depending on $ and other people.

 

[Dwight Monk]

Until the Feds change their stance trying to follow the laws difficult if not impossible as you are stating. OR kind of the same way and seeds if you can find a Dispensary that has them charge an arm and a leg for them (clones a few more Dispensaries have them but there is still more that don't have either one than ones that do. So you can't make an initiative (well you can but it won't do any good) to buy them online for medical (or anyone else for that matter) if "legally" you can't ship them thru the postal/package services per Fed regulations (even shipping instate, hence why all the producers have to send their stuff to be tested via a courier to a testing lab, as you can't legally ship it like you would anything else). Along with the States want their share of the taxes, hence the complicated rules and why nobody bothers to sell them in the States that are legal States.

 

[Virgin Ground]

@Weedseedsexpress. Has both of those cultivars.

 

[Dr Krieger]

Until the Feds change their stance trying to follow the laws difficult if not impossible as you are stating. OR kind of the same way and seeds if you can find a Dispensary that has them charge an arm and a leg for them (clones a few more Dispensaries have them but there is still more that don't have either one than ones that do. So you can't make an initiative (well you can but it won't do any good) to buy them online for medical (or anyone else for that matter) if "legally" you can't ship them thru the postal/package services per Fed regulations (even shipping instate, hence why all the producers have to send their stuff to be tested via a courier to a testing lab, as you can't legally ship it like you would anything else). Along with the States want their share of the taxes, hence the complicated rules and why nobody bothers to sell them in the States that are legal States.

Didn't think about that when making the poll. I think the reason its so hard to aquire a clone or seeds in state is because producers fear fines and potentially loosing their license. Is there any way the state could make seeds and clones more available to patients? I thought a state run seed bank would be nice because they wouldn't fear fines but I don't think the state would directly run something like that. There's probably federal regulations or something that prohibit it.

One of the producers I was reading about purcased seeds for literally a penny each according to a website that tracks info on producers. I'd gladly pay more for high quality seeds from within the state that wouldn't have any issues with the states laws.

 

[Dwight Monk]

Is there any way the state could make seeds and clones more available to patients? I thought a state run seed bank would be nice because they wouldn't fear fines but I don't think the state would directly run something like that. There's probably federal regulations or something that prohibit it.

It's nice that some States allow you to even cultivate your own with various regulations on it, as the Federal stance makes things complicated for them I imagine as "cultivation" translates to "manufacturing" which is a different ball of wax. Find what you need online, as folks have posted some options stick to whatever your State's guidelines are far as what you allowed if you are worried about it. Sometimes their rules aren't realistic as they don't really have a clue about any of it, far as plant count or seed count in example as their rules on possession amounts on usable product tend to be more realistic. As OR in example you allowed for Rec 8 oz of flower in possession in your home (1 oz possession out in public) which is quite a bit even for a heavy user, but you are allowed 4 plants which in their mind is anything from a seedling to a cutting to a mother plant to a male plant which is not quite as realistic, and not sure if it has changed (they change the rules even after years go by so much hard to keep up) but you are allowed 10 seeds in your possession in your house which is really a very stupid/unrealistic number far as reality goes

 

[Dr Krieger]

I'll be drafting an initiative to allow medically endorsed shops to act as a middleman and sell clones and seeds to medical patients. This would benefit patients, producers, and medically endorsed shops. I imagine it being similar to the dispensaries before i502 came into effect and required all shops to be recreational. Back then you could buy a clone off the shelf you that might even be the same genetics as the bud they were selling.

• It would give recreational shops a financial incentive to get a medical endorsement.
• Producers would be able to confidently sell to a medically endorced shop without the fear that they would get when selling directly to a patient.
• Endorsed shops already are comfortable with verifying medical patient credentials.
• Endorsed shops would have reason to stay endorced because they could no longer sell products that are exclusive to medical customers.
• The state would still have their tracking system.
• Patients would have access to more variety and higher quality genetics.

I've never written an initiative before but if anyone has experience, tips or advice in any of the process from drafting to getting signatures please message me.

 

[TorturedSoul]

I haven't kept up on the CBD strains, so I don't know how it went - but I do recall that back in 2014 or thereabouts, one of the Stanley brothers stated that they would ensure that the strain produced less than .3% THC. If that did end up being true, then it would qualify as a "hemp" strain of cannabis under US federal laws. And the 2018 farm bill passed - and one of the things it did was to remove requirements that viable "hemp" seeds require approval from the D.

That doesn't automatically mean that it doesn't require some sort of approval from any federal or state agency. I don't remember one way or the other about that. But there'll be some kind of way to legally buy "<.3% THC" cannabis seeds. Last time I checked (which wasn't recently, and my state isn't your state), we would still have to deal with our state government, pay for not one but TWO state employees to come by regularly and check on things, etc. But it's not legal on the state level for just anyone to grow cannabis that contains any real amount of THC here, so that was the primary concern. Along with the government getting a chunk of one's money, of course.

 

[Dr Krieger]

You must be licensed to grow hemp in Washington state. A license has an annual fee of 1200$ according to the states website.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Ah. Oh, well.

Seems like the most reasonable solution, then, is to do what people have been doing for well over half a century - Just do what you feel the need to do, lol, and don't pester the government about it. Your state government will still get plenty of tax money from the folks who'd stop and wait on a "walk" signal that was installed in the middle of a field, because "it's the law." And if not, well, they'll just end up raising everyone's taxes and you'll pay that way.

 

[Dr Krieger]

Ah. Oh, well.

Seems like the most reasonable solution, then, is to do what people have been doing for well over half a century - Just do what you feel the need to do, lol, and don't pester the government about it.

The beauty of an initiative is that the people get to vote on it and it can be done without the legislators who fucked up the laws initially. My state got legal recreational marijuana from an initiative to the people and I hope that we can fix the issues it caused with medical in the same way.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Yeah. Recreational cannabis in WA is legal like whiskey, isn't it? I mean... You can drink it, and buy it, but you can't make your own?

Or is it legal to grow cannabis there, now? If so, be a great place to live. Have to be cooler than it is here, whew.

BtW, good luck on the medicinal-use initiative. Cannabis - and cannabis-related products - ought to be stocked in pharmacies, so that those who have a legitimate medical issue, and one which is treatable with cannabis, can access it just like they can any other medicine. Which shouldn't be taxed.

 

[Dr Krieger]

Yeah. Recreational cannabis in WA is legal like whiskey, isn't it? I mean... You can drink it, and buy it, but you can't make your own?

Or is it legal to grow cannabis there, now? If so, be a great place to live. Have to be cooler than it is here, whew.

BtW, good luck on the medicinal-use initiative. Cannabis - and cannabis-related products - ought to be stocked in pharmacies, so that those who have a legitimate medical issue, and one which is treatable with cannabis, can access it just like they can any other medicine. Which shouldn't be taxed.

In Washington you must have a medical card to grow your own. Recreational users can not grow their own. Licensed producers are allowed to grow buy and sell clones, seeds and other parts of the plant. However to become a licenced producer you have to get a license which the state is no longer issuing. So the only way to become a licenced producer is to buyout a company that has a license already.

Overall I enjoy my state and would recommend it to most people. Weather isn't horrible. Minimum wage liveable depending on where you decide to live. There's a lot of tech companies on the west side of the state. Recreational weed is a reasonable price ~10/g and you can get infused 1g jonts for as low as 12$.

TLDR to grow in this state you have to either get a medical card or buy out a company that is a licenced producer. I'd still reccomend washington as a place to live though.