On Tuesday, the latest versions of two Washington State marijuana laws were heard by a committee. Sponsors renewed their efforts to limit high THC cannabis products and to legalize home-grown plants for personal consumption. These policies have been proposed repeatedly but failed to be implemented in recent years.
The House Regulated Substances and Gaming Committee heard testimony from both the sponsors and the public but took no action on either measure. The panel took testimony about a third marijuana bill that would require regulators to create a dashboard of data tracking trends in use and enforcement for Liquor and Cannabis Board licensed companies.
Both supporters of the homegrow proposal and those who support the THC limit proposals insist that the time is now to pass both bills. Washington voters legalized cannabis in 2012.
Rep. Lauren Davis, (D), whose HB2320 would restrict sales of products with a THC content greater than 35 percent to adults over 25, told colleagues that “the cannabis that we sell today is a completely different drug from the cannabis plant that was legalized by voters in 2012.
She claimed that the potency of the black market in Washington was below 10 percent at the time. Today, the potency is up to 99 per cent. You can have different health effects when you use a different drug.
Rep. Shelley Kloba, (D), whose HB2194 would eliminate felony criminal charges surrounding home cannabis cultivation by adults and allow them to grow up six plants, emphasized that Washington is an outlier for prohibiting homegrow.
Kloba said, “It is still a Class C crime to possess it in plant form.” “Hopefully, we will make some progress this year.”
Both proposals have been discussed in Olympia for many years, but neither one has gained enough traction to be put to a vote by the entire chamber.
Davis stated at the hearing that this is her fifth legislative session to tackle the issue of public health harms from high-potency marijuana products. Davis had originally introduced legislation for 2020, which would have limited cannabis concentrates to 10 percent THC. However, that proposal did not make it past committee.
Kloba was elected to the legislature in 2017, but efforts to allow personal cultivation date back to at least 2015. She joked that the bill might “sound a little familiar” to members of the committee, where a similar proposal was first presented last year.
The majority of the hearing was testimony from the public. Members’ questions and comments were few and mostly hypothetical. Sponsors spoke to support the bill.
Rep. Kristine reeves, a Democrat who has a few critical questions regarding the proposal to cultivate marijuana, asked if residents in a housing development or neighborhood might have water quality problems if they decided to grow marijuana. She said, “I can imagine a situation where I have developed a housing development with six plants in each home.” Do I have to think about water quality, runoff and environmental quality?
She also asked if the bill addressed the issue of disposing of cannabis plants harvested, a topic that is not mentioned in the text.
Reeves responded to a public commenter who suggested that garden waste could be equated with plant refuse because “that’s what it is.”
Reeves questioned if legalizing home cultivation, as proponents of the bill claimed, would actually help Black and Brown residents. She said, “There are many things that are legal. But don’t minimize Black interactions with law enforcement.” “In fact, Black people have died because they waited in line for Taco Bell. “Smoking a cigarette outside a grocery store has led to the deaths of Black people.”
Kloba, and other speakers who spoke on behalf of the bill, said that it is logical to assume that home marijuana cultivation would result in fewer interactions with law-enforcement, and therefore, criminal consequences would be reduced for Black and Brown people. They acknowledged, however, that despite the fact that cannabis arrests across the board have decreased since legalization of cannabis, there are still racial disparities.
Rep. Greg Cheney, a Republican, asked the proponents to give “a price estimate for what one plant would sell on the open market… if you sold it.”
Don Skakie is the founder of Homegrow Washington. The group has been advocating for the expansion of state law to include provisions on home cultivation.
Speakers in public forums overwhelmingly supported this change. Only one speaker took a position opposing the proposal. He complained that the bill “provides no restrictions on where cannabis can grow.”
Many, including long-time activists, members of the industry and concerned citizens, said the change would help consumers and hobbyists better understand the plant. It would also ensure that specific products could be grown without pesticides, and allow them to access the botanical form, which the state allows to be sold in processed, ready to use products. Others cited evidence that Washington’s marijuana products contained banned pesticides. They said this problem has grown in recent years.
Pete Holmes, former Democratic City Attorney of Seattle who led the municipal reforms around marijuana possession and supported the ballot drive for statewide legalization, was one person who spoke in public comment.
Holmes stated, “When you are the first to face prohibition in this country, there are many unknowns.” As a primary sponsor for I-502 in 2011, I am able to tell you that home grows were a challenge. The initial 502 did not include it because we wanted to better understand the viability and taxes of a newly-legalized cannabis industry.
He continued: “It is now clear that Washington consumers have the right to grow their own marijuana for personal use, just as many states who legalized cannabis in the last decade did after Washington.”
Holmes, like other speakers, noted that the policy change would be more similar to those regarding alcohol, where it is permissible to make many intoxicating substances at home.
He said that alcohol consumers have the option to make their own beer or wine, but most opt for commercial products. We believe the Washington cannabis industry will follow the same trend. I believe it’s time to eliminate this Class C felony. Please vote to pass this bill out of the committee.
Taylor Gardner, deputy director of policy for the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs said that the group had no formal position regarding the bill. She encouraged lawmakers to reconsider clauses included in Kloba’s earlier bill from last year. These include requiring safe cannabis storage, requiring plants to be labeled, and prohibiting cultivation which could be seen or odored off-property.
Gardner stated that “safety is the ultimate focus of our work.”
On Monday, the panel will vote on the home cultivation measure.
The public’s reaction to Davis’s THC limit bill was divided. Some pediatricians and health care providers supported the proposal, citing evidence that cannabis with high THC levels has been linked to certain mental conditions such as psychosis. Some people warned that if the government were to ban products such as vape cartridges and concentrates, it would drive consumers back into the illegal market.
Micah Sherman is the owner and operations manager of the cannabis company Raven. He said that the majority of harms that drugs cause are due to the war on drugs, and the policies we have created as a response. This policy will continue. “It’s not something that will move us forward or bring solutions to a potentially real issue, like how to handle a new era with legal cannabis.”
In its current form, the bill would restrict sales of products that contain more than 35 percent THC to those 25 years and older, unless they are a qualified medical patient or caregiver. The bill would also require that the Department of Health in Washington require cannabis retail staff to receive optional training about the dangers of products with high THC levels. It would also require University of Washington Addictions, Drug and Alcohol Institute develop guidelines for people who are at risk of serious complications due to cannabis use.
Citing a researcher at the institute, the bill’s findings section states that concentrated products “are as close to cannabis plants as strawberries are to strawberry pop tarts with frosted topping.”
Davis stated in a press release regarding the bill that “this is a case of an addiction-for profit industry having outpaced public policies.” It is our duty to learn from the past and not repeat mistakes. Now is the time to act in order to protect the public’s health. “It is now past time.”
Rep. Tom Dent (a Republican who is also her co-sponsor) said in a press release: “The cannabis market has changed significantly since cannabis became legal.” This legislation is necessary to keep up with the changing market and to put in place some measures to protect cannabis users, and our youth.
Next Thursday, the THC bill will be voted on in committee.
Due to the limited time available for public comments on the homegrow proposal and the THC limit, the House Committee held off on examining two other scheduled cannabis-related proposals. One (HB 1341) would allow out of state ownership of cannabis businesses licenses. Another (HB 1650), which was set up for executive action by a local government that wanted to ban marijuana business, would require voter approval.
A new cannabis bill recently introduced in Washington would undo the protections recently implemented for job applicants using marijuana. This would also remove the anti-discrimination provisions for those seeking employment in the drug treatment sector.
Legislators have also introduced legislation that would create a legal framework to allow vets and first responders access to psychedelic assisted therapy. The measure would build upon a pilot program that was signed into law in last year.
The psychedelics bill comes at a time when grassroots efforts are underway in Washington to decriminalize the use of entheogens by deprioritizing the enforcement of state laws. Organizers from six Washington cities have been working on reform. They also believe that this is a good way to gain support for a state-level policy change.
The state Department of Commerce released recommendations late last year on how $200 million could be spent in order to address the racial and economic disparities that were created by the War on Drugs. The state also approved 10 million in refunds for drug convictions that were vacated.
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Photo by Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
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