As the owner of The Herbery, a regulated cannabis retail store in Vancouver, and board president of the Washington CannaBusiness Association (WACA), I am often asked if Washington’s current ban on the private cultivation for cannabis should remain in place. The first thing I always say is that our current state regulations already allow registered medical patients to grow up to six plants at a time for their personal use, so there is a version of “home grow” for those who need it in place. The second thing I usually say is that changing state law to allow for the general public – patients and recreational users, alike – to grow cannabis at home for personal use has just not been a priority. We’ve had bigger fish to fry – creating a regulated marketplace for medical and recreational cannabis, ensuring products aren’t sold to minors and supporting a highly-regulated marketplace to assure a very skeptical federal administration that we continue to honor the tenets set forth by voters in Initiative 502 and the Cole Memorandum.

The bottom line is that for now, the nascent but maturing nature of our marketplace has given us the confidence to take an official “neutral” position on efforts to legalize the private cultivation of cannabis in our state.

We live in challenging times and supporting a legal marketplace for cannabis is now just one of many arenas in which robust political debates are being held. As an industry, and on behalf of our members, our priority always is to support a safe, quality-controlled and regulated marketplace that keeps marijuana out of the hands of minors. With that priority in mind – and against the backdrop of a White House administration which is actively questioning the validity and safety of the movement to legalize cannabis  – the Washington CannaBusiness Association is opposed to allowing the general public to grow cannabis for recreational use at home. Cannabis legalization occurred under strict assurances that the industry would be highly-regulated and deviating from our current state administered control policies, at this time, could be harmful to our long term efforts as individuals and as an industry.  With the spotlight growing brighter, and with the choices for quality-controlled, regulated products for responsible adults expanding exponentially, this may be the worst time to loosen restrictions.

We advocated for and continue to support allowing patients with the authorization of a medical professional to grow cannabis at home for their own personal use.

"If you ask licensed pot growers and retail owners, many of them are opposed.

'Our members are very concerned about the possibility of loosening regulations to allow the general public to grow cannabis at home,' Aaron Pickus said.

“We’re still a very, very young industry. Our priority is supporting the success of the current regulatory framework,” said Aaron Pickus, spokesman for the cannabis group whose 70 members include marijuana retailers, processors and growers. “Generally speaking, we are erring on the side of implementing what already exists before we open it up further.”

Candice Bock, government relations advocate for AWC, said it is a difficult law for cities to enforce. And they are concerned legal home grows can still be a source of conflict among neighbors.

"To [Vashon Velvet owner and WACA board member Susie] Gress, it shouldn't matter how much total weight she is producing. State regulations allow boutique breweries and wineries to turn a profit even when they are producing a tiny fraction of what large companies produce. Will Washington's legal marketplace be able to support tiny producers like her? That question is still up in the air."

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--Click here for the full report-- 

"The report, conducted by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP), found that more than 10,000 people were employed by legal weed businesses in 2016, and legal pot businesses paid almost $300 million in wages during the industry's first two and a half years."

"Members of Congress should seek to protect industries in states that allow marijuana use and to avoid a costly and counterproductive legal battle between those states and the federal government."

Read the whole "In Our View" editorial.

"Business owners don’t often proclaim the value of a highly regulated marketplace, but Washington state’s legal cannabis industry is thriving because our state’s leaders are committed to upholding the direction of voters in creating a safe marketplace that keeps pot out of the hands of minors. That isn’t to say that our current system is perfect — but each year we continue to refine laws and regulations to reflect the realities of a nascent industry.

It is fitting that the Washington CannaBusiness Association (WACA) — the regulated industry’s professional association of cannabis producers, processors and retailers — is helping lead our state’s delegation to Washington, D.C. this month, five years after the passage of Initiative 502. When voters approved a legal cannabis marketplace in 2012, no other state had a legal market for cannabis. Today, eight states have legalized cannabis for adult recreational use, including the entire West Coast. Patients and general consumers spent $6.7 billion on legal cannabis in 2016, according to an Arcview Market Research report."

"Aaron Pickus, a spokesman for the Washington Cannabusiness Association, didn’t want to overstate the regulators’ focus on protecting the state’s marijuana industry. But he conceded 'there was certainly a change in concern about what the federal government may or may not do regarding the legal cannabis marketplace following the comments made by (the Trump administration).'"

Read the whole thing.

"Aaron Pickus, a spokesperson for the Washington CannaBusiness Association, said the trade group is advising its members to closely follow the state's laws. 'Right now, we are emphasizing how important it is to make sure you are following the rules as set by Washington State,' Pickus said. 'Make sure you are dotting all your i's and crossing all your t's and following best practices to make sure that minors aren't getting into your store.'"

Read the whole thing.

KIRO's Senior Political Reporter Essex Porter interviews WACA board member and Ponder retail license holder John Branch.

"[WACA Boardmember] Susan Gress owns a small pot farm on Vashon Island. She sees the out-of-state ownership bills in the state Legislature, with bipartisan sponsors, as a lifeline, a way for her business to grow and survive. 'The funds we could use to create more jobs and tax income for our state instead will go to states like Colorado and California,' said Gress, a former editor at Pulp & Paper International magazine. At a recent hearing in Olympia she told lawmakers that out-of-state investors have approached her but want a stake in her farm that state law now prohibits."

Read the whole thing.

"While the passage of I-502 greenlit million-dollar investments into major production facilities throughout the state, it also opened doors for scrappy upstarts like Vashon Velvet—the company [WACA board member Susie] Gress founded in 2013 with her daughter, Ivy, and sister, Kay Rice."

Read the whole thing.

"[Washington Attorney General] Ferguson, who also led the states in challenging Trump's executive order on immigration, noted that he and Gov. Jay Inslee, both Democrats, previously were prepared to defend the state's legal marijuana system against any efforts by President Barack Obama's administration to shut it down. Ferguson and Inslee sent a letter last week to new Attorney General Jeff Sessions to request a meeting on the topic. [WACA board member] John Branch owns Ponder near Union and 24th Avenue in Seattle. He's been selling marijuana there since September 2015. 'I think undoing the will of the people of Washington state would be a big lift,' said Branch."

Watch the whole thing.

"[WACA board member] Brad Douglass, the scientific director for Bellevue's Werc Shop cannabis lab and a proponent of organic cannabis, said Clean Green certification is a good first step for the industry. 'I think what they're doing is good and useful, but it isn't a stand-in for a state regulated or even a federally regulated program,' Douglass said. 'It doesn't have the teeth that a state-regulated program would have.'"

Read the whole thing.

"Washington State—flush with millions of dollars' worth of cannabis, a thriving biomedical research industry, and a long history of agricultural research—is well positioned to start answering questions about the world's biggest cash crop. Scientists know surprisingly little about the most efficient ways to grow, process, and breed the plant."

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"[WACA Board-member and Vashon Velvet owner Susie] Gress and her fellow business owners don’t seem too worried about a federal crackdown. Partly because of the cost and resources that would be involved, and partly because voters seem to be moving in the opposite direction. Eight more states including California legalized marijuana in some form in November.

Rep. Denny Heck (D-Olympia) said support for legalization has transcended party politics in the four years he’s served in Congress."

Vicki Christophersen, Washington CannaBusiness Executive Director, is featured in Seattle Channel's premier public affairs show discussing the association's support for giving local jurisdictions the opportunity to create regulations allowing for marijuana consumption lounges. Christophersen's interview is featured beginning at the 1:52 minute mark. 

"Marijuana retailers in Washington state could see an uptick in business thanks to a proposed fund that would help foot the bill for low-income medical marijuana patients.

The idea is the brainchild of the 70-member Washington CannaBusiness Association (WACA), which hopes to have the fund up and running by spring 2017, according to the News Tribune. The fund is intended to expand patient access to MMJ."

Read the whole thing.

"Patients facing a wide array of medical conditions can sometimes get assistance for prescription drugs from pharmaceutical companies, government agencies and charities. That same support system doesn’t exist for medical marijuana. 'Hopefully we can help fill that void until the federal government changes the status of marijuana nationally,' [WACA Executive Director] Christophersen said."

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