Wash. looks to build strict controls for marijuana
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OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Washington state officials are looking to build a strictly regulated marijuana system that could forestall federal concerns about how the drug will be handled once it's available for public purchase.
Rick Garza of the Washington Liquor Control Board said Monday he expects the federal government will try to take action if Washington's system has loose controls. He said it's important for Washington to have a strong regulatory structure, such as how participants in the system are licensed and how the product is handled from growth to the point of sale.
"The feds are going to tighten the rope if they feel like it's not strictly regulated," Garza said. "The more tightly regulated it is, they are likely to give us a little more room."
One of the biggest issues the state is looking to manage is how much marijuana will be grown under the new system. Garza said it's important for officials to properly project consumption rates so the state is growing the right amount of product for in-state users and not having any extra supply that could spill into other states that haven't legalized marijuana.
Garza's comments came a day before Gov. Jay Inslee was set to meet with the U.S. Department of Justice to discuss the marijuana law. Washington voters approved the marijuana law in November, but Justice Department officials have not indicated whether they will allow Washington and Colorado to create legal marijuana markets, since the drug is illegal under federal law.
Alison Holcomb, who helped lead Washington's marijuana initiative, said the measure was written with the expectation that the system would be intensely scrutinized. She said it makes sense for the federal government to wait and see what the rules look like and what checks and balances are in place. She thinks federal officials will be more willing to allow legal pot to exist if they know it complements federal law enforcement efforts.
"From a public safety standpoint, they are going to look hard at what the outcomes are: Is it compromising public safety, or is it actually improving public safety?"
Holcomb said the initiative was drafted with a conservative approach that would be a small step into the legal pot world.
"We want to be held accountable," Holcomb said. "We want this to be watched to see if it's a workable alternative to marijuana prohibition."
Washington's Liquor Control Board, which has been regulating alcohol for 78 years, is in the process of soliciting advice from experts to help it determine how the state should grow, process, sell and regulate marijuana.
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 @sortbait No! We grow better weed here!
Sortbate is at it again! Can't even Capitalize Amsterdam or maybe he just left off the H. Anyway only Locals can smoke in the Hash shops now in Amsterdam they passed legislation to make it illegal for foriegners to use.
I was worried that all those illegal drug dealers were going to be unemployed...sounds like we got that covered.
 @al_02 They are most likely going to get advise from the Medical Marijuana Community. We have a system set up already and could easily convert to open market. I do not grow but am a card holder, are you really opposed to people growing and selling a product that the State can Tax instead of leaving it a Black Market?
 @swede760 I really don't care if people grow and use-or don't. I am not in either side of the market. What I don't want to happen is to have the worst of both worlds. The stuff is legal, but there are so many rules, regulations and taxes that it still supports an active smuggling community. This way I get to pay to set up a bureaucracy and pay for the war on drugs. And just for completeness, the State and Feds take turns suing in each other in court (for which I get to pay for all three sides), over how legal is legal.
 @swede760 Or it could end like NYC today where somewhere over half of all cigarettes sold are smuggled-because the tax rates are so high.http://www.cspnet.com/news/tobacco/articles/nyacs-responds-cigarette-smuggling-report
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There are two lessons from prohibition. One is the one you mention- if xx% of people approve and desire something, they are going to get it.
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The second is that there is a ceiling on the price people will pay for their vices. If the price exceeds that ceiling, alternative supplies, even if illegal, will proliferate.
 @al_02 Isn;t that what Prohabition gives us in the first place? Once Alcohol was re-legalized the criminal eliment was removed and that will happen with weed as well.
Where are they finding the "Experts" they are soliciting? Amsterdam?
But employers can still fire you for failing a drug test though.....
Yep, let Washington and Colorado figure out all the problems first. Then we can learn from thier mistakes and do it right the first time. Oh and contrary to Sortbait's Addiction statement Marijuan is Not Addictive Physically. If you get Addicted to it you are Psychologocally addicted and could be so to anything because you have more problems than just Pot.
Another study is in order, no doubt.
yup, a study to study the study.
Cha-ching!!! "Strong regulatory structure" means there's revenue to be had. Government gets greedy, black market is alive and well again. When will these doofi ever learn?
pot addiction is bad for the mind and the body.
"He said it's important for Washington to have a strong regulatory structure"
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IE, it's important for the government to grab power. In the meantime, I imagine most people are still getting it from a relative or friend who grows a couple of plants in their garage.
"We want to be held accountable," Holcomb said. "We want this to be watched to see if it's a workable alternative to marijuana prohibition."
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I wonder how a sensible argument like this can be vilified by the prohibitionists. It makes so much sense to me that Washington tests a regulated system for cannabis and then exports that model from state to state. The reconciliation of federal and state laws regarding cannabis needs to be addressed, hopefully Washington and Colorado will successfully blaze the trail.
 @Torino_v2 They'll be blazing something for sure!
 @Torino_v2 What could possibly go wrong? Oh, I know, they screw up in their highly regulated plan. Make legal pot not worth the cost and the black market or clandestine grow operations continue in full force. The state loses money because they screwed everything up, like they often do, and legalization is viewed as a failure.
 @Lips You're right Lips, that's certainly a possibility. Especially given the bias the government has shown to keep cannabis illegal at all costs.
 @Torino_v2 Hopefully WA won't agree to unreasonable terms for the sake of legalization. I'm 100% for legalization, but not at any cost or consequence. Not when the current cost and consequences are so minimal, from a purely criminal standpoint. I think one of the anticipated advantages of legalization centered around the employer/employee relationship. If that's a barrier that won't be breached, what's the point? The unemployed or low end workers will continue to be the ''faces of marijuana''. While the professionals continue to stay under the radar. Continuing the stereotype that only the stupid are stoned. Until they provide a provision that allows people to use off the clock, we're wasting the majority of people that matters, time.
"The feds are going to tighten the rope if they feel like it's not strictly regulated," Garza said. "The more tightly regulated it is, they are likely to give us a little more room."
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Screw the feds. This is a state issue and the feds need to stay out of it. We let the feds have too much control and we need to take back our state control.