Architect of Washington pot legalization wants ‘craft’ cannabis
(The Center Square) – Sunday marks the 10-year anniversary of the passage of I-502, an initiative to the Legislature, passed by voters after the Legislature failed to act on it. I-502 legalized the production, processing, and retail sale of cannabis products for recreational use at the state level.
The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board held a session, “I-502 10 Years later,” looking back on the initiative’s passage, as well as forward to marijuana sale and regulation in the state.
The Tuesday session was a candid discussion with the initiative’s primary architect, ACLU attorney and former Washington Public Defender Alison Holcomb.
“Our goal was to pass a law that would, first and foremost, withstand the scrutiny of the federal government,” said Holcomb.
The initiative, which passed on Nov. 6 2012, drew scrutiny from the otherwise relatively friendly Obama administration. At the time, support for the effort at the federal level was uncertain at best, leading LCB chair David Postman to comment at one point, “This is a business that the federal government wants to close its eyes to and not really give fair treatment to.”
Support for the law at the federal level for most of I-502’s history could be described as nonexistent, given that cannabis is still illegal at a federal level. This is why dispensaries in Washington State are typically all cash businesses. Banks will not allow you to have funds on deposit that were earned through violation of federal law.
This has made Washington’s pot shops an increasingly tempting targets for robberies. However, having made it through the Obama, Trump, and now Biden administrations, the federal government’s response has been mostly hands-off.
The closest thing to executive support for cannabis legalization at the federal level came earlier this year when President Biden pardoned thousands convicted at the federal level of simple marijuana possession, as previously reported by The Center Square.
As for how marijuana usage in Washington is going, Holcomb said, “We continue to vastly under invest in prevention. At the time we were drafting I-502 I believe the best research we were looking at proved that every dollar spent on prevention was worth seven dollars spent in incarcerative strategies.”
On cannabis production in Washington, Holcomb would like to address the issue of unequal power in the current 3-tiered production, processing, and retailing marketplace.
“I think it’s time for us to expand the number of [retail] licenses,” she said.
She went on to advocate for the state Legislature to amend the law to allow for a very Washington exception to the tier model. Holcomb wants a “craft license” option so that small businesses could produce and retail their own product, much like the state’s current allowance for brewers and distillers.
