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Private Cannabis Clubs Are Now Illegal In Washington

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WASHINGTON:  There won’t be private cannabis clubs in Washington anytime soon. State lawmakers outlawed the establishment of such clubs, places where people could go to legally use marijuana. The ban caught legal pot advocates by surprise.

In the waning days of the Washington legislative session,  an amendment  banning cannabis clubs was added to a bill, House Bill 2136, meant to tweak the laws regarding the state’s fledgling legal marijuana industry.

Among other things, House Bill 2136 simplified taxes on marijuana, moving to a single point of sale tax, and loosened the restrictions on the location of pot businesses.

But, in the end, with the addition of Sect. 1401, the bill also prohibited private pot clubs. And legal pot advocate Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes says it won’t just be illegal to set up such businesses.

 

Seattle City Attorney To Introduce Plan For Shutting Down Medical Cannabis Dispensaries

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WASHINGTON:  Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes held a private meeting recently where he presented a resolution he’s planning to introduce to the City Council that would separate medical cannabis establishments into tiers, with the goal of shutting many down in the coming months.

Under this proposal – which is designed in response to the passage of Senate Bill 5052– the first tier would include those distributing medical cannabis to patients under 21 (which is now illegal), and those with a business license obtained after January 1st, 2013. The second tier would consist of outlets that have delivery services, and those that allow medical cannabis consumption on-site. The third tier would consist of outlets that distribute cannabis that has not undergone microbial or potency testing, and those located within 500 feet of another licensed or unlicensed cannabis establishment, playground, public recreation center or a park, or within 1,000 feet of a school.

Under Holmes’ plan, outlets in the first tier would receive a letter, likely within 1-2 months, demanding they cease operations, with those in tier two and three likely receiving a letter shortly after. Outlets that don’t fall into these tiers would be given the opportunity to continue operating until the July 1st, 2016 deadline established by SB 5052.

 

Seattle City Attorney Proposes Marijuana Home Grows, Lounges And Merging Medical System

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WASHINGTON:  Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes on Monday issued a sweeping policy proposal that calls for allowing people to grow pot at home, establishing vapor lounges and folding unregulated medical-cannabis dispensaries into the new state recreational system.

Holmes was a prime sponsor of Initiative 502, passed by voters in 2012 to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana.

His call comes just before the start of a legislative session in which the future of medical marijuana shops could be hotly debated.

“They’re creating a public safety nightmare, frankly, and they’re undercutting the 502 stores because they’re unregulated and untaxed,” Holmes told KIRO 7.

 

Seattle Hitting ‘Reset Button’ In Move To Dismiss Public Pot-Use Tickets

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WASHINGTON:  As the city moves to dismiss 100 tickets tainted by one police officer’s political agenda, Seattle police said Monday they plan new steps to better teach the department’s officers and citizens about the ban on smoking marijuana in public.

“It’s not really about writing tickets. We’re trying to educate people,” Deputy Chief Carmen Best told the City Council during a briefing prompted by the disclosure that bicycle Officer Randy Jokelaissued the vast majority of public-use tickets the first half of the year for personal reasons.

As a result of Jokela’s actions, City Attorney Pete Holmes informed the council he will seek dismissal of all 100 tickets written for public marijuana use during the first seven months of the year, including tickets written by other officers.

In what he called a practical move, Holmes told the council the “cleanest and most efficient thing to do” is vacate every ticket and “hit the reset button,” in part because Jokela’s ticket writing compromised the council’s directive to monitor the effect of the ban enacted last year.