STATE HOUSE PASSES MEDICAL-MARIJUANA REFORM

A comprehensive reform of the state's medical marijuana law passed
the state House Monday afternoon, making it increasingly likely that
the state would for the first time legalize dispensaries and growers
while providing patients with new protections from arrest and prosecution.

A comprehensive reform of the state's medical marijuana law passed
the state House Monday afternoon, making it increasingly likely that
the state would for the first time legalize dispensaries and growers
while providing patients with new protections from arrest and prosecution.

The bill, SB 5073, now goes back to the Senate, which passed a
slightly different version in March. At an afternoon news conference
before the House voted 54-43 to pass the bill, Gov. Chris Gregoire
said, "At this point, I have concerns about it."

During vigorous debate, the House, passed an amendment requiring
legal patients to sign up for a new state-run registry to qualify for
pre-emptive protection from arrest, search or prosecution. Mandatory
registries are in place in other states, including Oregon, but
advocates in Washington fear the registry could be abused by law enforcement.

Republicans sought to chip away at the bill with failed amendments,
including 1,000-foot buffer zones from schools and banning qualified
patients from growing marijuana themselves.

Sales and business taxes would apply to dispensaries, growers and
processors, producing an estimated $700,000 in revenues next year.

The bill is the biggest rewrite of the medical marijuana law since a
1998 voter-approved initiative, and answers many questions that
lingered since then. Dispensaries, which currently operate in a legal
gray area, would be licensed and regulated by the Department of
Health under rules still to be written, and the Department of
Agriculture would license and inspect commercial marijuana grow farms
and food processors.

As part of amendments adopted on the house floor, one dispensary
would be allowed for every 20,000 residents, meaning at least 93
would be allowed in King County.

The bill's champion, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, said it
would expand access for patients while providing a "bright line" for
law enforcement. If differences can be worked out with the Senate,
"It'll be the strongest medical marijuana protection in the country,"
she said.