Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Plans to get rid of medical marijuana dispensaries are in the works in the Washington State legislature.
It is illegal under Washington and federal law to possess, buy or sell medical marijuana. This makes dispensaries illegal, according to the Washington State Department of Health website.
Brian Smith, the Communications Director for the Washington State Liquor Board, said medical marijuana is a key issue for the legislature in 2015.
One of the goals of the Liquor Control Board and the legislature in Olympia is to address medical dispensaries and have them follow the same rules as recreational dispensaries or combine them into the recreational system, Smith said.
Hugh Newmark, owner of the medical dispensary Best Buds Collective Gardens in Bellingham, feels like the idea of closing down medical dispensaries and combining them into recreational retailers would be wrong.
When I-502 was announced and people signed the initiative, representatives of the state said the medical dispensaries would not be affected, Newmark said. He believes this was said just to gain more support for the law, because now they are trying to get rid of medical marijuana, Newmark said.
However, the Liquor Control Board considers existing dispensaries to be illegal businesses.
"These dispensaries are basically operating outside of the law and competing with law-abiding businesses,"
Smith said. "There's already a system in place, so there's no reason why that system couldn't afford or handle the medical system."
With the ease of getting a green card through any health care provider, many recreational users go to medical marijuana dispensaries instead of recreational stores, Smith said.
"Now that we've established the recreational system, there are people that are playing by the rules, paying taxes and operating on a tightly regulated system while they are competing with these medical marijuana dispensaries," Smith said.
Although medical dispensaries are not allowed in Washington, they have not been stopped over the last few years, he said.
Western Washington University junior Max Caswell thinks that most people only care about the price of the product and not where they buy marijuana.
"From the purchaser's standpoint, it all comes down to the price," Caswell said.
Taxes are the main reason why prices in recreational retailers are higher than medical dispensaries, Smith said.
According to New Approach Washington's website, the sales tax on marijuana from the I-502 initiative was set at 25 percent.
Medical marijuana is sold at the retail sales tax, 6.5 percent in Washington, according to Washington's department of revenue.
When the market was first established, many of the producers of marijuana had not brought their product to market, leaving prices very high. Now, the market is large and prices have dropped, Smith said.
Although prices have dropped, there is still competition between medical and recreational retailers because of the lack of taxes with medical, he said.
Cities have been slow to shut down the medical dispensaries, Smith said. Many times, the city did not know what they were doing when they gave the medical marijuana dispensaries a business permit, he said.
Thomas Beckley, the owner of Top Shelf Cannabis, a recreational retailer in Bellingham, said he would like to see the medical market shut down to combine the medical and recreational retailers.
Beckley would love to see people who need medical cannabis go to recreational stores and not pay the marijuana tax, but just the standard sales tax, he said.
"There's no reason they can't combine [medical marijuana] into retail stores," Beckley said. "People opening a medical store have a medical card, without any other credentials at all, and open their stores. These stores are popping up all over the place because it costs less money and they don't have to pay taxes."
However, dispensary owners do not all agree with state legislators.
Newmark said he has asked many of his patients if they have ever gone into a recreational dispensary. All of them said they did not purchase anything and did not like the environment of the stores, he said.
"They just aren't interested in 502 stores," Newmark said. "They feel like they're in a liquor store and feel like they're being upsold cannabis. Bud tenders at the recreational stores just don't care about their medical needs."
With all of the recent discussion among legislators about shutting down medical marijuana stores, Newmark believes recreational stores will not gain his patients as customers.
"If they shut me down, my patients would not go to 502 stores to get their medicine," Newmark said. "They would go back to the black market because 502 is simply too expensive and not compassionate."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Washington state legislatures hope to expel medical marijuana dispensaries - The Western Front: News
Author: Danielle Oyama
Contact: westernfrontonline@gmail.com
Photo Credit: Margaret Degman
Website: The Western Front: Get it first and get it right
It is illegal under Washington and federal law to possess, buy or sell medical marijuana. This makes dispensaries illegal, according to the Washington State Department of Health website.
Brian Smith, the Communications Director for the Washington State Liquor Board, said medical marijuana is a key issue for the legislature in 2015.
One of the goals of the Liquor Control Board and the legislature in Olympia is to address medical dispensaries and have them follow the same rules as recreational dispensaries or combine them into the recreational system, Smith said.
Hugh Newmark, owner of the medical dispensary Best Buds Collective Gardens in Bellingham, feels like the idea of closing down medical dispensaries and combining them into recreational retailers would be wrong.
When I-502 was announced and people signed the initiative, representatives of the state said the medical dispensaries would not be affected, Newmark said. He believes this was said just to gain more support for the law, because now they are trying to get rid of medical marijuana, Newmark said.
However, the Liquor Control Board considers existing dispensaries to be illegal businesses.
"These dispensaries are basically operating outside of the law and competing with law-abiding businesses,"
Smith said. "There's already a system in place, so there's no reason why that system couldn't afford or handle the medical system."
With the ease of getting a green card through any health care provider, many recreational users go to medical marijuana dispensaries instead of recreational stores, Smith said.
"Now that we've established the recreational system, there are people that are playing by the rules, paying taxes and operating on a tightly regulated system while they are competing with these medical marijuana dispensaries," Smith said.
Although medical dispensaries are not allowed in Washington, they have not been stopped over the last few years, he said.
Western Washington University junior Max Caswell thinks that most people only care about the price of the product and not where they buy marijuana.
"From the purchaser's standpoint, it all comes down to the price," Caswell said.
Taxes are the main reason why prices in recreational retailers are higher than medical dispensaries, Smith said.
According to New Approach Washington's website, the sales tax on marijuana from the I-502 initiative was set at 25 percent.
Medical marijuana is sold at the retail sales tax, 6.5 percent in Washington, according to Washington's department of revenue.
When the market was first established, many of the producers of marijuana had not brought their product to market, leaving prices very high. Now, the market is large and prices have dropped, Smith said.
Although prices have dropped, there is still competition between medical and recreational retailers because of the lack of taxes with medical, he said.
Cities have been slow to shut down the medical dispensaries, Smith said. Many times, the city did not know what they were doing when they gave the medical marijuana dispensaries a business permit, he said.
Thomas Beckley, the owner of Top Shelf Cannabis, a recreational retailer in Bellingham, said he would like to see the medical market shut down to combine the medical and recreational retailers.
Beckley would love to see people who need medical cannabis go to recreational stores and not pay the marijuana tax, but just the standard sales tax, he said.
"There's no reason they can't combine [medical marijuana] into retail stores," Beckley said. "People opening a medical store have a medical card, without any other credentials at all, and open their stores. These stores are popping up all over the place because it costs less money and they don't have to pay taxes."
However, dispensary owners do not all agree with state legislators.
Newmark said he has asked many of his patients if they have ever gone into a recreational dispensary. All of them said they did not purchase anything and did not like the environment of the stores, he said.
"They just aren't interested in 502 stores," Newmark said. "They feel like they're in a liquor store and feel like they're being upsold cannabis. Bud tenders at the recreational stores just don't care about their medical needs."
With all of the recent discussion among legislators about shutting down medical marijuana stores, Newmark believes recreational stores will not gain his patients as customers.
"If they shut me down, my patients would not go to 502 stores to get their medicine," Newmark said. "They would go back to the black market because 502 is simply too expensive and not compassionate."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Washington state legislatures hope to expel medical marijuana dispensaries - The Western Front: News
Author: Danielle Oyama
Contact: westernfrontonline@gmail.com
Photo Credit: Margaret Degman
Website: The Western Front: Get it first and get it right
