We’re entering uncharted waters with marijuana legalization in Washington state. Like many of you, I had some questions about how the new law will impact our existing medical marijuana law.
Committee staff from our nonpartisan Office of Program Research provided answers to my questions below.
Do you have questions about our new marijuana law? Submit your question in the comment field below and I’ll pass it along to legislative staff.
– Gael
Will the legislature be required to take up legislative actions to approve Liquor Control Board (LCB) proposed implementation of I-502? Or will they become law automatically?
I-502 provided the LCB with truly extraordinary authority to develop and adopt the administrative rules necessary for implementation of the requirements of the initiative. Once the LCB formally adopts these rules, they immediately have the force of law and do not require legislative approval. However, once an administrative rule is adopted by an agency, the legislature has the power to enact statutes that have the effect of repealing or revising such rules.
LCB Administrative Rules Implementing I-502
Will the state rescind laws relating to medical marijuana growers and users?
Legislation is currently being drafted in order to revise the regulation of medical marijuana in accordance with the recommendations of the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Revenue (DOR), and the Liquor Control Board (LCB). The proposed legislation would rescind or amend most of the current medical marijuana statutes and replace them with an entirely new, and much more stringent, regulatory system that should address the many shortcomings of the current statutory scheme for medical marijuana.
Here are the recommendations of DOH, DOR, and the LCB Regarding Medical Marijuana Regulation.
Will medical marijuana users be able to obtain prescriptions for marijuana with THC levels substantially lower than recreational user levels?
Neither current nor proposed statutes or rules regulate THC levels. It is likely that the assumption is that since medical marijuana will be a commercial product sold in the commercial marketplace (as is the case with recreational marijuana), then “market forces” (supply and demand, etc.) will determine the range of THC levels that will be found in products marketed for medical purposes. Therefore, once the marijuana marketplace gets rolling, there will be a great many products with a wide range of THC levels to choose from, including some with THC levels much lower than the norm.
Should we be exploring a different system of oversight for medical use vs recreational use? For example, should the Pharmacy Board or a Department of Health Committee be responsible for overseeing medical usage?
The legislation currently being developed by committee staff will create an altogether different system for regulating medical marijuana that involves both the DOH and the LCB. This new medical marijuana regulatory scheme is a sort of hybrid that blends the stringent regulations of I-502 with radically revised provisions for the regulation of medical prescriptions, patients, and health care providers by the DOH. The details of the proposed system are set forth in the attached joint proposal of the DOH, DOR, and the LCB.