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Perhaps it was just curiosity. Or a misunderstanding. Maybe even hopefulness. But a few visitors to Herbal Healing Safe Access, a medical marijuana cooperative, have inquired about getting pot without having the state credentials necessary.
They've been turned away.
"No we can't do that," says Michael Paxhia, who runs the operation. "You have to have (medical) authorization."
Welcome to the murky existence of the state's marijuana access points and collectives, made murkier by Initiative 502, which will make it legal Dec. 6 for any state resident to possess up to an ounce of pot.
Initiative 502 did nothing to change the state's medical marijuana law, passed by voters in 1998. But it has providers of medical marijuana and the patients they serve on edge as the initiative heads toward implementation. That's barring intervention from the U.S. government because of its all-out illegality under federal law.
There's fear among some medical marijuana providers that if the state is allowed to tax and regulate pot as the initiative intends it to, it won't be long before officials look to do the same with medical marijuana.
Janice Stewart, a hair stylist-turned-medical marijuana delivery woman who runs Green Light Express on the Kitsap Peninsula, said she wouldn't last long under the taxes and restrictions of Initiative 502.
"It would put me out of business," said Stewart, who adds her suggested "donation" for her service is about $10 a gram.
Stewart said she has a hard enough time absorbing sales tax, which the state Department of Revenue is collecting on medical marijuana outfits, into her own operation.
Initiative 502 includes a 25 percent excise tax at each stage of sale, from grower to user. Marijuana would also be subject to state testing.
Raymond Alloway, a partner in Port Orchard's West Sound Quality coop, said he fears the state limiting the amount of THC – marijuana's psychoactive ingredient – that can be sold. He worries patients suffering from terminal cancer, for instance, may require stiffer doses. He hopes that medical marijuana collectives will still be around to grow such product.
"Less potent stuff isn't going to help people with higher tolerances," he said.
The fears are understandable but premature, according to Troy Barber, a Poulsbo resident and spokesman for Sensible Washington, which advocates for marijuana legalization. The group did not support 502.
The idea the state could move in on medical marijuana "is a valid threat," Barber said, "But it's still speculation."
Medical marijuana patients also have concerns about the new DUI standards put in place by Initiative 502. If an officer believes someone is driving stoned, the driver can be given a blood test to determine how much THC is in his or her blood stream. The initiative's authors arrived at five nanograms of "active" THC in one's blood stream as the measure for being guilty of DUI – a level many medical marijuana patients view as far too low. Especially given the length of time the drug lingers in the system.
"I don't think I ever go below that," Alloway said.
Barring the DUI concerns, medical marijuana patients and providers can't help but wonder what happens when the state becomes more involved in taxing and regulating pot. Some medical marijuana providers, like Alloway and Stewart, could see themselves involved in the state-regulated business, as they're both believers in the plant itself. But Stewart said the taxes are too high for her patients, many of whom are on disability.
"We're afraid licensing and taxing it is going to drive it into the black market," Stewart said, "because patients will not be able to afford it."
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: kitsapsun.com
Author: Josh Farley
Contact: Staff and Contacts for Kitsap Sun
Website: Medical marijuana providers unsure of what future holds » Kitsap Sun
They've been turned away.
"No we can't do that," says Michael Paxhia, who runs the operation. "You have to have (medical) authorization."
Welcome to the murky existence of the state's marijuana access points and collectives, made murkier by Initiative 502, which will make it legal Dec. 6 for any state resident to possess up to an ounce of pot.
Initiative 502 did nothing to change the state's medical marijuana law, passed by voters in 1998. But it has providers of medical marijuana and the patients they serve on edge as the initiative heads toward implementation. That's barring intervention from the U.S. government because of its all-out illegality under federal law.
There's fear among some medical marijuana providers that if the state is allowed to tax and regulate pot as the initiative intends it to, it won't be long before officials look to do the same with medical marijuana.
Janice Stewart, a hair stylist-turned-medical marijuana delivery woman who runs Green Light Express on the Kitsap Peninsula, said she wouldn't last long under the taxes and restrictions of Initiative 502.
"It would put me out of business," said Stewart, who adds her suggested "donation" for her service is about $10 a gram.
Stewart said she has a hard enough time absorbing sales tax, which the state Department of Revenue is collecting on medical marijuana outfits, into her own operation.
Initiative 502 includes a 25 percent excise tax at each stage of sale, from grower to user. Marijuana would also be subject to state testing.
Raymond Alloway, a partner in Port Orchard's West Sound Quality coop, said he fears the state limiting the amount of THC – marijuana's psychoactive ingredient – that can be sold. He worries patients suffering from terminal cancer, for instance, may require stiffer doses. He hopes that medical marijuana collectives will still be around to grow such product.
"Less potent stuff isn't going to help people with higher tolerances," he said.
The fears are understandable but premature, according to Troy Barber, a Poulsbo resident and spokesman for Sensible Washington, which advocates for marijuana legalization. The group did not support 502.
The idea the state could move in on medical marijuana "is a valid threat," Barber said, "But it's still speculation."
Medical marijuana patients also have concerns about the new DUI standards put in place by Initiative 502. If an officer believes someone is driving stoned, the driver can be given a blood test to determine how much THC is in his or her blood stream. The initiative's authors arrived at five nanograms of "active" THC in one's blood stream as the measure for being guilty of DUI – a level many medical marijuana patients view as far too low. Especially given the length of time the drug lingers in the system.
"I don't think I ever go below that," Alloway said.
Barring the DUI concerns, medical marijuana patients and providers can't help but wonder what happens when the state becomes more involved in taxing and regulating pot. Some medical marijuana providers, like Alloway and Stewart, could see themselves involved in the state-regulated business, as they're both believers in the plant itself. But Stewart said the taxes are too high for her patients, many of whom are on disability.
"We're afraid licensing and taxing it is going to drive it into the black market," Stewart said, "because patients will not be able to afford it."
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: kitsapsun.com
Author: Josh Farley
Contact: Staff and Contacts for Kitsap Sun
Website: Medical marijuana providers unsure of what future holds » Kitsap Sun
