Hey Washington, I have been talking to & emailing anyone who will sit still long enough to listen regarding HB 2149. You know... The bill that will unreasonably limit home grows until 2019 then eliminate them. It will eliminate dispensaries and collectives. It will place restrictions on caregivers. The bill is making progress. It has passed the Healthcare & Wellness Committee and been forwarded to the Appropriations Committee. This is the only bill of the 3-4 introduced that is moving forward. HB 2233 has been abandoned by it sponsors. Contrary to what some may think here: Contacting your elected reps can influence the outcome. Find your Rep's & Senator here: http://app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/ You don't have to enter your full address. Just your ZIP code.
Oh it just keeps getting better..... SHB 2149: "Adopt rules to define the maximum size of marijuana plants 5 authorized under sections 5 and 12 of this act" Not only do they want to limit you to 3 flowering plants but they want to restrict the size of each plant!
public polls are worthless, you will never get the true opinions of people out of their fear of retaliation.
You are correct. This is just a devious ploy on my part to try and get people to bend to my will and call their Rep's and tell them "NO ON 2149"
Unfortunately I do expect this bill to pass because of the greed involved from the LCB AND the utter disregard for the current mmj law that many people have shown, either by growing and selling, or the very reason why they are shutting down dispensaries, which is the buying and reselling of mmj through collectives. Its a shame that some bad apples and some greedy politicians can ruin a system, although flawed, that was working. This is just the start. Expect other states to adopt similar, if not stricter policies towards mmj due to the excessive abuses and the trend to toward outright legalization.
Is this where we thank everyone that voted for legalizing? Thanks guys for fucking our MMJ right in the goat ass for your benefit.
The folks that will be voting on this answer to us, the voters, not to LCB. Obviously LCB's recommendations carry some weight but we are the ones who vote to elect or re-elect our Rep's and Senators. Unfortunately, they are not telepathic. We actually have to pick up the phone or write a letter/email and tell them what we want.
No. Good lord. Thank the liquor control board and our state legislatures for not listening to the people. Look, this goes back to the very start of mmj, the laws were WAY to loose and now everybody and their mom grows or is trying to open a dispensary to collect on the gray area of the law that allows them to profit, even though they're not suppose too. This was probably going to happen at some point with medical in WA anyways, obviously not to this extent, but look at other states' mmj programs, besides Cali and Oregon, and they are just as strict as the current bills on the table. The bottom line coming out of this is no dispensaries, small homegrows for patients, tax exemption, and it will much harder to get/recommend/ a card. I agree its bullshit, but it was bound to happen with the way the medical marijuana industry was operating in this state, not just directly due to legalization. Legalization just happens to give the government one more reason to change the current mmj law which is flawed and ripe with abuse...unfortunately
True, and trust me I will absolutely be letting my reps. know my feelings on this issue, but from all indications they want the current mmj system to change, a lot. I would be in favor of a type of bill that is similar to the one that was vetoed in 2011 by that wonderful governor Gregoire, who was scared that the feds were going to prosecute state employees. IMO the bill should allow for dispensaries, smaller homegrows (15 seems like a bit much, maybe 8-10), smaller possession limits (from 24 ounces to say...8 oz, still a fucking QP), same requirements to obtain a card (until its rescheduled, kind of have to keep it like it is), and stricter penalties for collectives who knowingly violate the mmj laws. Hopefully our legislatures will pull their heads out their asses and listen to us for once. I'm not holding my breath though.
The laws being too loose is your opinion. I do not care if everyone and there mom grows or has a card. If people want to open a dispensary why does this concern you? Most of them pay taxes. Also saying that it was going to happen at some point is a cop-out. Its happening because uninformed voters bit hook line and sinker. Now the state is trying to eliminate its competition. Absolute BS. You do not need a license to grow/process MJ people have been doing it for thousands of years. Anyway we can do more than debate the subject lets band together to try and stop this before it passes. Cheers
every person I meet who said they voted for legalization - I tell them how they have ruined thousands of people's lives, cost dispensaries a fortune and have made everything more hectic. just because they thought it would be so cool to have marijuana legalized. no one thought about what it would be like - TAXED AND CONTROLLED BY THE FUCK WA LCB
Yeah cause not getting arrested for pot is so terrible. SMH. Blame the legislature's and the lcb for not following the people's wishes and make it known through contact via email, mail, phone, etc and through votes. This is not final and if they do change mmj its because of a combination of factors not just legalization. So please look at the big picture and see that despite WA doing its best job to fuck it up for medical, the larger point as been made and that is cannabis should be legal for EVERYONE.
HB 2233 maintains reasonable plant counts and possession amounts. It was put forth this session but for some reason the bills sponsor decided to step away and give her support to HB 2149. If you are going to contact your Rep's, now is the time. 2149 is moving forward. We need to speak up NOW or we will certainly get what "they" think is best for us. As far as "reasonable" possession amounts go, Oregon was at 8oz/7 plants and in 2006 they decided that was not adequate and changed it to 24oz/24 plants. From seed to smoke takes me 4 to 4.5 months. In that time period I process nearly a pound into extract for edibles. If I never had any failures then I could manage with 6 plants in veg, 6 plants in flower and 16oz possession. Unfortunately we all have the occasional challenge that causes a reduced or failed harvest.
Well, now it's headed to the Senate. These I-502 stores need to be erased before they even open. Just allow everyone to grow their own with recreational users allowed to flower 3-6 plants at one time and medical patients of at least 15, preferably 30-50 to make things easier since there won't be dispensaries and such. This way, one medical patient can grow more than they need for any patients they're friends with, related to, etc. Recreational users can either grow their own or buy from someone locally that they know and trust and would/should eliminate many of the sketchy deals since everyone and their mother will have some. If they want to keep the "stores", they shouldn't have their own establishments because not as many people would be using them. Just incorporate them in others, say, liquor stores maybe with their own section. This way retailers won't be so dependent on moving a lot to stay afloat as they'll have plenty of other items that will still bring in money. Tax structure can stay the same in this scenario for all I care because it'll probably go stale sitting on the shelves, taxes or not. And to think, this sort of crap we're seeing unfold now are the things people were saying would happen over a year ago. Go ahead and talk shit or be rude if you want, but those that have been critical of my posts on this matter are blinded by their ignorance and have been incorrect most of the way.
The problem is that none of us stoners have an "in" at the LCB...life should be nice and easy for those with enough money to buy a permit before they're for sale.
Yeah the senate has a slightly different version, same reductions to possession and growing limits and banning dispensaries, but it will also include concentrates for medical (I-502 did not include them). There's a hearing this afternoon, not sure if a vote will be held, but by no means is it guaranteed to pass.