For years, marijuana legalization was out on the shaggy fringe of American politics, supported by folks with macrame backpacks and the politically untouchable National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML.



Now, with last November's votes in Washington and Colorado, we're rapidly shooting past simple non-prosecution of pot.



We're talking not just NORMLization, but normalization.



Last week, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn addressed a gathering of the National Cannabis Industry Association at the downtown Washington Athletic Club, in an ambience of large chandeliers and large market projections. Describing the Seattle market -- and maybe the Northwest market -- to the budding businessmen from across the country, McGinn explained, "We like local, crafted, authentic. We want to know our products. We don't want genetically modified organisms. We want fair trade."



As The Seattle Times reported, the mayor did have questions about the approaching marijuana business: "Will it speak to local values, contribute to local causes, behave responsibly?"



We're now imagining a world where not only is marijuana legal, but also where marijuana dealers sponsor Little League teams, support Rotary and join task forces on neighborhood parking.



What McGinn calls "the new normal" is newer than we ever expected.



He's not the only politician thinking in those terms. U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., has formed a Marijuana Working Group in the House, to address other issues of oncoming legalization.



For example, if governments want to tax marijuana -- and they do want to tax marijuana, to the point where Washingtonians wonder if the legal product will be able to compete in the market with cheaper, untaxed black market offerings -- the operation would have to stop being what you might call a cash business.



But considering the continuing U.S. ban on the drug, "Federally supervised financial institutions don't want to give marijuana distributors a bank account," points out Blumenauer. Also, "Under Section 280 of the IRS Code, they can't deduct legitimate business expenses."



Such as, say, fire insurance.



There will be, it turns out, various complications in the new economy besides notions of criminal behavior. There are also different ideas of what constitutes a business and who fits where in tax policy. In theory at least, a Seattle marijuana shop proprietor submitting his Washington state Business & Operations tax form to the feds could find himself not only audited but also indicted.



And there's no reason to be confident that Washingtonians and the feds could soon reach agreement on marijuana. After all, since last November, the two sides also have different definitions of marriage.



Then there's the whole question, raised by Seattle's mayor, of how the new shops fit into the local business community. As most 19th-century fiction carefully explained, legality is not the same as acceptability. In Oregon, vast numbers of strip clubs are not just legally but also constitutionally protected, yet few of them are pillars of local neighborhood associations.



Blumenauer is convinced that the comparison doesn't hold. "I think the particular role of marijuana," he explains, "has a broader appeal than the tawdry scene of gentlemen's clubs."



We're approaching a society where marijuana is more mainstream than sex.



This is clearly the expectation and business model of the National Cannabis Industry Association, the group Mayor McGinn addressed in Seattle. Now consisting mostly of medical marijuana suppliers, the membership is growing and looking toward broader market opportunities.



"With I-502's (the Washington legalization initiative) passing, we have seen a surge of interest," NCIA director Aaron Smith told the Seattle alternative weekly The Stranger. "Basically, it's the model used for every other trade association. We want to make sure the industry is represented in Washington, D.C."



And as of last August, it has a political action committee.



In a way not fully discussed in last fall's initiative campaign, there's a massive change involved as marijuana completes its shift from counterculture to over-the-counter. Not only will the laws be different, but the plant itself acquires a new identity.



We're looking to a time where marijuana is not just a buzz.



It's a business association.



David Sarasohn, associate editor, can be reached at 503-221-8523 or dsarasohn@oregonian.com. See other writing at oregonlive.com/sarasohn/



