Simply put — No homegrown cannabis makes Washington’s law the weakest of the four legal weed laws now on the books in America.

Never mind the torturous rules and caps and costly addendums built into it by the Liquor Control Board … And even considering their illegal private meetings with law enforcement and anti-pot forces (… does make you wonder what promises, if any, they made in those illegal closed door meetings, though).

… And before we go casting blame on the architects of 502, just remember we voted it into law.

It’s the no homegrown weed that’s the real problem here. If the Legislature wanted to really fix the medical marijuana scene and save the 502 retail system from becoming very expensively obsolete — they will amend 502 to include home growing.

Colorado allows people 21 and older to grow up to six plants, provided it’s done in an “enclosed, locked space.”

Alaska’s new law allows up to six plants (three flowering) for adults 21 years of age or older. It also allows adults to possess the marijuana produced by the plants on the premises where the plants are grown.

21-and-up residents in Oregon can grow four plants and eight ounces of usable marijuana on hand.

If medical patients could grow their own special plants, many of them would given they could grow enough of them or were allowed to create small collectives of a few growers (If you can’t grow your own or in a small collective, then it seems fair enough to make you register as a MMJ patient so you can get tax-free marijuana out of the I-502 system).

An industry would come out of the dark

An unregulated but regular-ol capitalist industry would come out of the black market and grow up around the demand for clones, seeds and kits for growing.

And the board could drop its silly ban on bringing new plants into the 502 system. Remember though that the 15 day window in which the board allows newly licensed growers to bring in plants — “from who knows where” — to log into the state-mandated tracking system came about out of necessity.

Because 502 requires all marijuana stuff be regulated by the state, there was this small problem of how to kickstart the market. How would the growers start? Even seeds have to come illegally from somewhere. So they made that rule – which would be totally useless if Washington residents were given the right to grow their own.

Grow your own hurt 502?

Would that cripple the recreational 502 market by reducing demand for legal weed? Nope.

The reason the gray market medical retail shops have exploded is because most people do not want to grow their own. It’s hard, like brewing beer. How many great small-batch home brews have you had? Not as many great beers as you’ve had at your local tavern, I’ll bet.

Those with special needs must be allowed to grow their own, without having to go through a licensing or medical registry requirements, which the Legislature will almost certainly put in place.

Also, the 502 market is already steeply challenged by the essentially open market in Seattle. Sales are okay here, but not as strong as in Bellingham, Spokane and Vancouver. And new stores are slow to open here. Currently we have only five of the allowed 21 stores open.

The social justice argument

And just on the social justice front, not only is it still a felony to give any amount of marijuana to a friend, but the anti-grow rule puts the legal-weed, 502 crowd on he side of the war on marijuana. Those trying to make living in 502 almost have to want the police to enforce all the war on pot laws … all of which still remain in effect outside of narrow channel of legalization created with I-502.

Frankly, that can’t sit well with anyone seeking legalization as a counter to the tremendous social harm of the war on drugs.

So, the Legislature must build into our current marijuana laws the right to grow your own outside of any control except, say, a specific number of plants. With that law in place, the resistance to modifying and regulating the 1998 medical marijuana initiative will diminish at least somewhat, and we’ll have a shot at meaningful medical marijuana reform

In Washington.

While they’re at it, they could also change the law to allow for Amsterdam-style coffeeshops where tourists and residents alike can vaporize and ingest somewhere outside of a private home.

Jake Ellison can be reached at 206-448-8334 or jakeellison@seattlepi.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/Jake_News. Also, swing by and *LIKE* his page on Facebook.

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