Seattle Looking At Rule Changes For Medical Marijuana Businesses

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A proposal to amend Seattle's land use code would restrict the production and distribution of medical cannabis in certain parts of the city, including Pike Place Market.

Goals include giving those in the legitimate medical marijuana community certainty in how and where they can operate, and preventing the business from becoming a tourist trade.

The plan would restrict, but not ban, medical marijuana businesses in residential areas and tourist neighborhoods, such as the market, Pioneer Square, the International District and the central waterfront.

In addition, the size of indoor growing operations in manufacturing and industrial areas would be limited to no more than 10,000 square feet.

Medical marijuana is legal in Washington, but all pot — no matter what the use — is illegal under federal law. Caught in between are local governments, such as Seattle, where medical marijuana businesses have been sprouting like kudzu.

Even though there are around 145 dispensaries in Seattle, according to city data, there are no cannabis-specific requirements in the land use code.

This lack of regulation could spell trouble, said City Councilmember Nick Licata, who thinks that while most businesses are legitimate, some operators are "unscrupulous businesspeople out to make a quick buck."

To head off the problems these people could create, the city has been trying to get ahead of the issue by meeting with medical marijuana businesspeople to come up with a regulatory framework.

Regulating marijuana will become a bigger issue if Washington voters approve Initiative 502 in November. It would legalize and heavily tax all marijuana sales at state-licensed stores to people 21 and over.

One operator that city officials have met with is Oscar Velasco-Schmitz of Dockside Co-op in Fremont. "The city is asking very important questions," he said.

Velasco-Schmitz said laying out the ground rules will help create a safer trade that provides medical marijuana patients the access they need. He thinks the city's effort is "a great thing."

The Housing, Human Services, Health and Culture Committee, which Licata chairs, will take up the issue early next year. Before then, Licata and Council President Sally Clark will talk to community groups about the proposal.

The proposal would restrict the size of medical marijuana businesses in terms of how many pot plants and ounces of cannabis a business could have. A business would be limited to 45 cannabis plants and 72 ounces of useable cannabis.

Outside the restricted areas, medical marijuana businesses would still be regulated.. "It isn't like, go hog wild outside these zones," Licata said.

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News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: bizjournals.com
Author: Marc Stiles
Contact: Contact Us - Puget Sound Business Journal
Website: Seattle looking at rule changes for medical marijuana businesses - Puget Sound Business Journal
 
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