By Anthony Martinelli, Sensible Washington
House Bill 2149, the proposal to gut Washington State’s medical cannabis law, failed to receive a public hearing in the Senate Ways and Means Committee yesterday, which was the deadline for the bill to receive one. This means that the proposal, in its current form, won’t be advancing. However, according to staff of the committee, the proposal will be implemented into an upcoming budget bill, which will be voted on in the coming days (sometime before the session ends on March 13th).
Senate Bill 5887, a similar proposal, was given approval yesterday by the Senate Ways and Means Committee, and now sits in the Senate Rules Committee
It’s now more important than ever that those in Washington State contact their lawmakers and urge them to oppose the regressive changes that these measures would bring. Some of these changes include:
- Creating a mandatory patient registry
- Shutting down all collective gardens
- Drastically reducing patients’ possession and cultivation limit
- Putting medical cannabis under the same tax structure as recreational cannabis (25% at three different levels).
Those who oppose these changes should call the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000 and voice their opinion; They can also look up their district’s lawmakers by clicking here.
