Pubdate: Tue, 26 May 2015
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2015 The Associated Press
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409

STATE LIQUOR BOARD TO GET NEW NAME, MORE POT CONTROL

Medical-Marijuana Licenses for Shops, Growers

Lottery Unlikely

OLYMPIA (AP) - Big changes are coming to the state Liquor Control 
Board, including a name change.

The same law that will change the name July 24 to the "Liquor and 
Cannabis Board" also directed the agency to decide which unlicensed 
medical-marijuana shops and grow operations to legitimize by July 1, 2016.

The process will involve a merit system, The Olympian reported.

The agency assumes 825 unlicensed medical shops will apply for a 
license and that half will receive one.

First dibs would go to people who have been in the medical-marijuana 
industry since before 2013, have paid their taxes and applied for one 
of the recreational licenses. Next up are those who didn't apply for 
a recreational license but meet the other requirements. Everyone else 
falls into a third tier.

"I don't think there's going to be a need for a lottery," board 
director Rick Garza said, detailing how the law approved in April by 
legislators and Gov. Jay Inslee would be implemented.

Research under way will help decide whether a lottery is needed, 
Garza said. It will also help decide if sellers should be able to 
apply at any time for a marijuana license, as they may for a liquor 
license, rather than within a short window.

Many of Washington's more than 1,000 unlicensed medical-marijuana 
shops won't qualify for special consideration because they are too 
new, Garza said.

"In Thurston County, here we've seen a doubling or a tripling of the 
number of green crosses since (recreational) legalization back in 
2012," he said. "That seems to be consistent with what we're seeing 
across the state."

Regulators should license as many new growers, processors and 
retailers as possible that have a history of good behavior, said Alex 
Cooley, vice president of Seattle medical-marijuana grower and 
processor Solstice and a supporter of the law.

"Many people have been doing this for up to 10 years now and have 
been serving their communities and taking care of many sick people 
and doing it in a compassionate way," Cooley said.

Much of the work to implement the law falls to the state Department 
of Health. The agency will define what qualifies as medical-grade 
marijuana and choose a contractor to set up a registry for patients.

People who join the registry will get protection from arrest and less 
stringent limits on how much marijuana they can possess.

The Health Department will complete at least two tasks by July 24, 
when some parts of the law take effect, said Chris Baumgartner, who 
leads a unit of the agency that deals with medical marijuana. It will 
develop a form for medical providers to authorize marijuana use and 
tell providers how to report the number of authorizations.

The law calls for providers who write more than 30 authorizations in 
a month to report the number to the department.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom