Pot Establishing Medicinal Niche

23 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

• 

  poolman on June 24 at 9:57 a.m.

  The use of marijuana in medical cases should be dictated by medical professionals - not politicians. And why are these dispensaries a bad thing again? So if your doctor prescribes you marijuana to east the side effects of chemotherapy you should have to go down to the corner of Howard and Riverside and find some dealer selling dime bags – that is a joke. I will never understand why people are so weird about marijuana but find tobacco and alcohol perfectly acceptable -> brainwashing.

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  LukeB on June 24 at 9:57 a.m.

  I expect legalization and regulation in a manner to nicotine and alcohol within 10 years, at least in Washington State.

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  toadman on June 24 at 10:02 a.m.

  “Do you support the legalization of medical marijuana nationwide?”

  No. I support the blanket legalization and regulation and taxation of marijuana cigarettes…so, I suppose that actually includes medical marijuana.

  Interestingly enough, I have several very conservative/republican friends who feel the same way.

• 

  hmoffsuite on June 24 at 10:09 a.m.

  >>> Interestingly enough, I have several very conservative/republican friends who feel the same way.

  toad. I happen to be one of them.

• 

  toadman on June 24 at 10:16 a.m.

  “toad. I happen to be one of them. ” - HMO

  YAY! See? We’re not so different as you’d think.

  *rubbing hands* (now, if I can just ween him off Fox News and see the light that is NPR!!)

  ;-)

• 

  JohnA on June 24 at 10:19 a.m.

  I read somewhere that California could balance their budget mess if pot was legalized for all users. They receive something like $50 million a year in taxes from medicinal marijuana now, but that would climb to a billion or more annually.

  Amazing, that.

• 

  Sisyphus on June 24 at 10:32 a.m.

  Interesting John. Its a not so drastic a measure for assuredly drastic times.

• 

  Aliasjax on June 24 at 10:53 a.m.

  Legalize the bud, dude.

• 

  spokelooneh on June 24 at 12:38 p.m.

  “JohnA on June 24 at 10:19 a.m.

  I read somewhere that California could balance their budget mess if pot was legalized for all users,They receive something like $50 million a year in taxes from medicinal marijuana now, but that would climb to a billion or more annually.”

  Not likely. California is facing a $24B deficit.

  If pot is completely legalized, how many people are going to go to a store and pay taxes on it, when they can grow it their back yard or in their house under an ultra efficient grow light? Or buy it from their friends who do the same?

• 

  toadman on June 24 at 1:08 p.m.

  “how many people are going to go to a store and pay taxes on it, when they can grow it their back yard or in their house under an ultra efficient grow light?”

  Never underestimate the ability of Americans to buy into pre-packaged convenience. Remember, you can buy cheese that’s ALREADY grated, bread that’s ALREADY sliced, and garlic that’s ALREADY chopped. Why not go ahead and buy bud that’s ALREADY rolled and filtered, man.

  Still, there’ll be a whole “organic” cottage industry that grows up around it…to be sure.

  ;-)

• 

  spokelooneh on June 24 at 1:41 p.m.

  Well you had me there for a second, toadman. Sliced bread, of course. Grated cheese, no problem with it.

  But pre-chopped GARLIC? NEVER!

  You’ll have to pry my garlic press from my cold, dead hands!

• 

  JohnA on June 24 at 2:01 p.m.

  ” how many people are going to go to a store and pay taxes on it, when they can grow it their back yard or in their house under an ultra efficient grow light? Or buy it from their friends who do the same?”

  It’s no different than Bent brewing his own beer. It’s for his own use and those lucky enough to taste it for free. The key is that to sell it to someone requires a tax stamp, which requires the seller to report the sales and taxes on the sales. This is the ingenious way the state gets the pot growers now, because they don’t have a tax stamp for their sale of the stuff. Of course, under current law they couldn’t get a tax stamp and therein lies the beauty of it.

• 

  lewis8457 on June 24 at 3:40 p.m.

  Oregon’s liquor board is all set up for marijuana sales once it is legalized. I have been waiting 35 years for the weed to be legal. While I watch drunks kill people on the streets and tobacco smokers drive up my insurance costs.

  I have a few friends that have gotten a prescription for medical marijuana. I guess I better get my butt down there and get mine too.

  If it was legal and sold like liquor the feds would have the money to put a damper on people selling it on the street. There are not too many people selling liquor out of their garages because the feds have the dollars to keep a handle on it. It has always been an argument that people would buy from their friends and surpass Uncle Sam but that holds no water if it is legal and I can buy it at a liquor store why would I take the chance of buying it illegally from a friend?

  Legalize it and tax it like everything else.

• 

  mommae on June 24 at 4:35 p.m.

  I think that they should legalize it. Smoking some pot is alot better than taking pills that do not work.

• 

  brentandrews on June 24 at 5:37 p.m.

  I can’t believe this is happening. It’s like a dream come true. This stone is rolling and there’s no stopping it. Finally. The states lagging behind are going to look silly, on this one. Even cops agree: A recent issue of POLICE magazine says 45 percent of survey respondents supported medical marijuana. More than 20 percent supported full legalization. We’ve come a long way, baby, in just a few years.

  I think Washington’s law could be interpreted as allowing alcoholics access for medical purposes - as treatment for alcoholism, a chronic, wasting disease affecting appetite among other things.

  But depression has been ruled out, oddly.

• 

  spokelooneh on June 24 at 6:08 p.m.

  “It’s no different than Bent brewing his own beer. It’s for his own use and those lucky enough to taste it for free. The key is that to sell it to someone requires a tax stamp, which requires the seller to report the sales and taxes on the sales. This is the ingenious way the state gets the pot growers now, because they don’t have a tax stamp for their sale of the stuff. Of course, under current law they couldn’t get a tax stamp and therein lies the beauty of it.”

  Point taken, John.

  Again, I would say as toadman alluded to, “organic” etc, the domestic underground market “exchange” of money for pot (and personally grown) will probably be much larger than the legalized, taxed, market.

• 

  Escapee on June 24 at 7:47 p.m.

  I don’t smoke and I don’t drink. But it’s a double-standard, when alcohol is legal and pot is not, and I’ve always felt that way.

• 

  lostbong_o on June 24 at 7:48 p.m.

  Medical grade cannabis is not as easy to grow as you may think.
  In addition if you have a legal card you most likely would not be able to physically grow for yourself due to your disability. The stuff that is sold at Change the clinic in Spokane includes the cost of paying local,state,and federal tax.( if you are for legalization this is important.) In addition it is a safe place to get your medical cannabis you know what you are getting they will discuss what issues you are trying to address and then make a recommendation of what would be the most helpful for your illness. At CBR Medical This is where you go to get your script they will require at least 2 yrs of medical records before you can meet with the DR. PLEASE PLEASE do not go to the Change clinic without your medical card first. Please look over the laws and also support the movement for legalization if you believe in medical or recreational use.
  http://www.legaljoint.net/state_by_state/washington/WALAW_amendment.asp

• 

  lostbong_o on June 24 at 7:57 p.m.

  BTW~~~This is not just about Medical cannabis. This could lead to a whole new cottage industry for hemp. With all the farm land around here that is not being used and the government paying farmers not to grow food this could change a lot of things. Please look up industrial hemp products. Hemp is also one of the healthiest and most nutritional complete foods. Please realize that hemp does not contain the medical ingredient THC that cannabis does.

  ALSO
  IF you live in the Spokane area please support Christopher P Stevens run for city council.

• 

  Gregor_Samsa on June 24 at 8:27 p.m.

  Pot is a gateway drug to stupid and unemployed. I’m cool with legal medicinal use, and no dude, that hangnail isn’t like going to get infected and like really hurt so much like you need bud, but find the silly arguments of how wonderful this crap is to be legalized (better than ETOH!) just specious and absurd. Hitting yourself in the head with a brick isn’t as bad as using a sledgehammer but it’s still hitting yourself in the head. Man.

• 

  Stickman on June 24 at 10:23 p.m.

  Legalize it and tax it, and then let’s over the stupidity of making it a crime. Period.

• 

  barrytumwater on June 25 at 5:15 p.m.

  Yes and I support legalization of sale for medicinal purposes. People don’t die from an overdose of pot like they do from opiate based drugs.

• 

  brentandrews on June 29 at 1:01 p.m.

  I hope the S-R has more coverage of this issue planned soon. I could have read a lot more. I’d like to know a lot more. This is one of the biggest issues of our time, in my view. Imagine how much it could help the newspaper industry to suddenly have five or six new profitable dispensaries around town, all advertising their buds! Looking at magazines like West Coast Cannabis and Treating Yourself with full-page ads including photos of cannabis plants and finished medicine, I see the potential for a huge revenue boost for our ailing papers.

  Keep dogging this story. Show us the old S-R. Send Jesse in there to get some close-up pictures of those buds.

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