Washington House Overwhelmingly Approves Ban On Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
Source: Forbes
Last night the Washington House of Representatives approved a bill that would abolish medical marijuana dispensaries, a.k.a. “collective gardens,” and impose new restrictions on patients who use cannabis for symptom relief. H.B. 2149, which passed by a vote of 67 to 29, would thereby eliminate some of the unregulated competition for the state-licensed pot stores that are expected to start opening this summer under I-502, the legalization initiative that Washington voters approved in November 2012. Supporters of the bill, which was introduced by Rep. Eileen Cody (D-West Seattle), hope that banning dispensaries will help maximize tax revenue and mollify the feds.
The bill requires patients to buy their cannabis from the same stores that serve recreational customers, which would be the only legal sellers of medical marijuana as of May 1, 2015, when the provision allowing collective gardens would be repealed. Patients could continue to grow marijuana for their own use, but the maximum number of plants would be reduced from 15 to six (three of them flowering). The ceiling on possession by patients would be cut from 24 ounces to three. The bill instructs the state Department of Health, together with the Washington State Liquor Control Board (which is charged with regulating marijuana growers, processors, and retailers), to produce a report by November 15, 2019, on the question of whether it is appropriate to continue allowing home cultivation.
Cody’s legislation would create a “patient recognition” system that would allow cardholders to buy up to three ounces at a time (as opposed to one ounce for recreational customers), avoid paying sales taxes (a privilege addressed in a separate bill), and claim immunity from arrest for possession or cultivation within the limits set by law. Currently there is no central record of qualified patients. Patients with doctor’s recommendations have an affirmative defense against marijuana charges, meaning they can still be arrested, although not convicted. H.B. 2149 would eliminate that affirmative defense, effectively requiring qualified patients to register with the state if they want to be recognized as such.
“I think that we can satisfy some of the patients,” Cody said after the vote. “I don’t think that all of the medical marijuana community will be happy.”
That might be an understatement. “Our cowardly legislators voted to effectively end medical cannabis here,” says Steve Sarich, executive director of the Cannabis Action Network, who opposed I-502 partly because of the impact he expected it to have on medical consumers. “Patients are in shock. If the Senate votes to pass this bill, Washington will be the first state to end medical cannabis.” All but three of the 29 votes against Cody’s bill came from Republicans. “The Democrats, who supported I-502, were behind this, along with the governor,” Sarich says. “Who would have thought it would be the Republicans trying to protect the rights of patients?”
Read more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2014/02/18/washington-house-overwhelmingly-approves-ban-on-medical-marijuana-dispensaries/ to source
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whole dispensaries are thrown out of the good and somewhat risky work they have been doing for years to profit someone else, people fired. It increases the limits patients can buy, not like that was a problem before, but lumps them in with others who may suffer distribution problems they did not see before, and the price difference may prove to be an issue.
It also cuts down on the plants patients can grow at home, making them even more dependent on this system. This alone makes the legislators look more ridiculous than they already are, writing laws they can't enforce - it would cost hundreds of millions they haven't got to catch the people, for instance, that bought the $36,000 worth of soil and lights at the grow shack the other day. And that was just one day, one sale 
While they will get a bunch of aging hippies lining up outside for the first little while, I suspect most people will continue to use the outlets they have had for years. And the medical marijuana patients may just say screw the stores and go back to their old distribution that worked pretty well. It's not like all these people just started smoking in December. Some have been doing it a long, long time.
A lot of the medical marijuana folks were against this newfound "freedom", even though it didn't mention them, because, they thought, the self-righteous assholes who think they know better just couldn't resist the urge to fuck with someone, especially someone mostly powerless and hurting, over it. Their suspicion proved correct. Bullies.
But there will be new people to vote for soon...ones who don't think beating up on the most vulnerable is the best use of their time, perhaps. I wonder if they will remember.
Who woulda thunk it would be the Republicans I'd support in regards to weed?
Actually though, this is really not good. This will only drive prices up further, harming patients already hit by higher costs. For some, this isn't about a small case of arthritis in their elbow (and my sympathies to those who have that), but a matter of life and death. My girlfriend smokes at least a few times a week, and I am confident this is partially what has kept her alive these past few months. She has epilepsy that recurs, and the last time she stopped smoking she had two grand mal seizures that put her in the hospital. Despite all of her meds and doctors, this is the one thing that keeps her healthy (in addition to epilepsy, she has quite a few other diseases and pain issues). She already can't afford a license in Oregon; I shudder to think of the number of people up here in Washington that will be hurt if this bill passes.
At least I sent her home with a nice sativa strain last time she visited up here 
& there are products we have access to that are not available to the retail market due to strength. If you have a red card, you might consider keeping it. My dispensary is setting up a second store in the same retail area, but with separate access & everything.
