OPINION
>> I-502 destroys the rights of patients under the guise of state regulation. Together, we cannot support it. I-502 makes criminals of medical marijuana patients, takes away our right to drive and guts protections we already hold today. It will be on the November general election ballot, and it’s important that readers understand just how bad this bill would be to the people involved in medical marijuana on a patient and a provider level. Just say no!
Just say no! 1. THE RISK OF DUI Currently there is no ng/ml level of THC to legally determine “intoxication” under the State law. I-502 adds a per se limit, and adds one so low that every medical cannabis patient in the state will be illegal when they get behind the wheel.
4. DISTRIBUTION Distribution, while defined in the law, is still one of the issues that has yet to be clarified by the bill’s sponsors. According to the latest figures released last week by New Approach Washington, the state licensed pot stores will have to sell at least 700,000 ounces (43,750 pounds) of cannabis in order to provide the state with the $210 million dollars in tax revenues promised by the initiative’s sponsors. That said, the initiative doesn’t appear to establish any mechanism, either state or privately operated, that would be responsible for the safe storage and distribution of three quarters of a million ounces of cannabis. If a distribution chain is added to the legislation, will that add yet another 25% in state taxes, and yet another increase in the final retail cost of cannabis? Is this really the future we hoped for?
2. FELONY POSSESSION Any amount of cannabis under 40 grams is a misdemeanor. That increases to a felony for any amount over 28 grams. This is what “legalization” will be bringing us? Increased penalties for pot possession should never be a goal of a legalization initiative.
5. CURRENT ACCESS According to Alison Holcom in a recent posting on the NORML blog, “anyone who is growing and/or selling marijuana in Washington right now — as, say, one of our gray-market dispensaries — can continue to operate after I-502 passes as long as he or she is willing to get a license and comply with the regulations.” We really just don’t believe it. If you think you can still continue to operate as you are now, helping patients with affordable medicine, guess again. You’ll be required to get a Liquor Control Board license and sell $600 an ounce pot to everyone who walks in your door. The only problem is that there won’t be anyone walking in. It is incredibly critical that medical marijuana access points remain in place, since they can better serve patients by ensuring standards of quality and will know their products better than a state employee.
I find it hard to believe that anyone in Washington, whether they are a patient or a recreational user, will be willing to shell out $600 per ounce for marijuana, no matter how good it is.
DON’T SUPPORT I-502: THE WORST THING FOR PATIENTS IN YEARS! BY STEVE SARICH FOR NORTHWEST LEAF
3. THE 21+ RESTRICTION Leaving out protection for the youngest of our community who will suffer the most, is not the legacy to leave behind. Under this initiative, patients under 21 years will no longer be able to “legally” buy their medication. We have no idea if their “designated provider” (usually their parents) will be able to buy their medication for them.
6. PRICING PROBLEM New Approach Washington released figures a couple of weeks ago that indicate the cost of “legal” marijuana from the state licensed pot stores will be approximately $444 per ounce. To get to this $444/oz retail price they made some rather astonishing assumptions. First they based they all of their figures on the rather dubious assumption that state licensed growers would sell high quality, indoor grown, cannabis at the rather remarkable price of only $68 an ounce ($1100 per pound). In my personal experience, this is less than half the current market price for quality indoor cannabis here in Washington. This is even falls below the price level of low quality outdoor cannabis brought in from California, which would be outlawed under I-502. The second truly remarkable flaw in formula is that they failed to include in any profit margin for the processors and the retailers in their calculations to determine an end user price. Will anyone go through the expense of setting up a wholesale or retail cannabis business without expecting to make a profit? When you start adding in profit margins for the licensees, it’s easy to prices could easily rise to $600-$700 an ounce What’s the likelihood that growers will be willing to sell their “state licensed” cannabis for $68 an ounce, only to see it sold for $600-$700 per ounce? I find it hard to believe anyone in Washington, whether they are a patient or a recreational user will be willing to shell out $600 per ounce for marijuana, no matter how good it is. If no one is willing to pay those prices, and patients certainly can’t, how does that support NAW’s contention that “legal pot” will wipe out the black market for marijuana? If I were a street dealer, I’d absolutely love this new initiative. I could raise my prices a modest $50 an ounce and still be hundreds of dollars cheaper than the state licensed retailers.
MAR. 2012 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF
/9