Washington moves to license marijuana dispensaries, feds react

HELP NEEDED! WA STATE TAKE ACTION!

Time is short, and the stakes are high. We need as many people as possible to contact members of the state senate and urge them to oppose concurrence on SB 5073 and seek a conference committee. Please go to [link] and send a short email to this effect:

"Dear senators: Please vote no on concurring to the house changes for SB 5073, and seek a conference committee with the house. The current language is unacceptable and will dramatically weaken our state's medical cannabis law."

Senate phone numbers: [link]

Thank You!

The medical cannabis bill that passed the Washington State House of Representatives Monday, April 11, is now a ghost of its former self, and is set to dramatically weaken our state's voter-approved medical cannabis law. For some folks, anything one can paint as a victory to donors helps their bottom line, and for some, adding myriad restrictions to our law is a necessary evil in a long-term political and public opinion strategy. But please be informed that the bill as amended in the state house is, on balance, shockingly horrible for medical cannabis patients in our state.

On the arguably positive side, SB 5073 implements a very limited and licensed dispensary and grower network in Washington State. It promises to provide limited protections to patients who register with the government in a future state-run database run by our Department of Health, whose current director has a history of refusing to implement medical cannabis legislation and of surreptitiously supplanting rules created in the public rule-making process with the will of our governor. It provides an affirmative defense to patients visiting from out of state. It also defines "useable cannabis" and "plant" much more favorably.

THE CURRENT BILL IS BAD FOR DOCTORS:

* Requires an authorizing health care professional to be the primary care provider or a "specialist" -- which likely requires specialty certification, which does not exist currently for medical cannabis -- in order to authorize the medical use of cannabis. Section 301.
* Places ten new requirements on health care professionals who recommend medical cannabis. Disallows health care professionals from running "medical cannabis only" clinics, or from making any statement on the medical use of cannabis in any advertisement for their practice. Violations would be findings of unprofessional conduct, and the punishments may include per-violation fines of up to $5,000 and license revocation under RCW 18.130.160. Most doctors in our state that currently authorize medical cannabis risk having their livelihood destroyed in doing so. Section 301.

THE CURRENT BILL IS BAD FOR PATIENTS:

* Protections from search and arrest were gutted on the house floor Monday. Patients will not be safe from police terror unless they register in a future government database, which we believe may never be implemented by our Department of Health. Section 402.
* Invalidates all current "lifetime" authorizations. Section 201(32)(b)(i).
* Places additional requirements and limits on "designated provider" documentation. Section 201(32)(b)(iii).
* Codifies in law that state-funded housing programs may disallow the medical use of cannabis. Section 410.
* Disavows the medical necessity common law defense. Washington appellate courts have a "division split" on the medical necessity common law defense, and the bill specifically removes its underlying support for the defense as we wait to see if our supreme court will take up the appeal. Section 102(3).
* Denies the medical cannabis affirmative defense to members of our military. Section 501(5).
* Expressly allows DOC or any other correctional authority to disallow the medical use of cannabis. Sections 102(4), 201(26)(b), 803(3), 1105.
* Expressly allows Washington State hotels and motels to refuse to accommodate medical cannabis patients. Section 501(4).
* Makes "tougher" the existing restrictions against driving "under the influence" of medical cannabis. Section 501(8).
* Provides immunity to law enforcement and all other state actors who violate the privacy of the future state-run registry. Section 1101.

THE CURRENT BILL IS BAD FOR DISPENSARIES:

* Removes the affirmative defense and legal underpinning for all currently operating dispensaries. Section 201(6)(d).
* Requires currently operating dispensaries to notify local authorities of their intent to apply for a future license if they are to be afforded an affirmative defense in court. This notification -- or admission of criminal behavior -- will likely lead to threats of closure and raids from local authorities. Section 1201.
* Places an "advertising ban" on dispensaries that forbids speech which "promotes or tends to promote the use or abuse of cannabis." Specifically states that any visual or artistic representation of cannabis is illegal. Each violation is punishable by fines of up to $1,000. Section 802.
* Allows local jurisdictions to adopt zoning, "health and safety," licensing, and tax requirements on dispensaries. Section 1102.

READ THE BILL:

[link]