Washington's D Day - July 1, 2016

Washington State Goes Up In Smoke / Washington State’s New Medical Marijuana Laws Are A Buzzkill

The state’s new bill, effective July 1, means that dispensaries that don’t comply with the law face being shut down.

Talk about being a party pooper, Washington State. While other cities and countries are making efforts, no matter how small, toward marijuana reform, Washington State takes two big steps back.

July 1 is the first day that Washington’s Cannabis Patient Protection Act will be enforced.

Everyone who uses or works with medical marijuana - dispensaries, patients, doctors, and businesses - are affected.

If you can’t prove that you are complying with the new regulations, you’re facing serious legal consequences.

Patient Information

Patients who already have a medical marijuana prescription can still use it until the expiry date. However this means that your benefits will be limited to:

 Grow up to 4 plants in your home

 Possess up to 6 ounces of cannabis in your home But if you apply to the Washington State Patient Registry, which is voluntary, you will get a recognition card that will provide you with these new benefits:

 Buy cannabis products at endorsed dispensaries tax free

 Buy as much as 3 times the current limit at dispensaries with your prescription

 Buy high-THC products

 Possess up to 6 plants and 8 ounces of cannabis; but if a doctor sees it fit you can be eligible to possess up to 15 plants and up to 16 ounces of cannabis

 Participate in a medical cannabis cooperative (up to 4 patients or a provider can grow marijuana in a garden for medicinal purposes)

 Protection from arrest

If you renew your marijuana prescription, you will automatically be provided an authorization card since doctors are now required to enter patient information in the Washington State authorization database. Patients can also choose to get their authorization card by visiting dispensaries and speaking with the medical marijuana consultant who will enter your information for you and give you a card. As long as patients have this card, it provides them with protection from any criminal sanctions about the marijuana that they own or consume - provided that the amount complies with state laws.

The card fee is $1 which will need to be paid as soon as patients receive their card. The payment will go to the Department of Health.

All prescriptions that are dated before June 2015 will not be honored at dispensaries.

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Dispensary Information

In order to keep doing business, dispensaries need to have a medical marijuana endorsement from the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board by July 1, otherwise it will be considered illegal and shut down.

Dispensaries can still apply for an endorsement as long as Department of Health criteria are already met and you already have a license (hurry since there are only a limited number of endorsements in each county).

State law requirements for dispensaries:

 Only carry products that qualify for medical grade status by the Department of Health

 All employees are trained on medical marijuana

 Employ at least 1 medical marijuana consultant

 Keep all records of recognition cards, qualified patients, and other information required by the Department of Revenue and Department of Health

 Input sales information into the Washington traceability system

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Doctor Information

Only licensed medical doctors, physician assistants, osteopathic physicians and their assistants, naturopaths, and advanced registered nurse practitioners can give medical marijuana prescriptions. It’s illegal for medical marijuana consultants to diagnose patients or give a prescription.

Starting July 1, all doctors who give over 30 prescriptions in a single calendar month are required to give a report to the Department of Health through the authorization database.

State law just made it everything so much more difficult.

We also wonder why this information was on a weed-to- know basis and not released publicly?