Official logo for legal marijuana in Washington state, courtesy Washington State Liquor Control Board.

OLYMPIA — Anyone planning to grow legal marijuana in Washington should expect to do so inside, pass a tough background check and keep up with their paperwork.

The state agency setting new rules to comply with the voters’ decision to legalize recreational marijuana for adults released a 46-page draft of dos and don’ts Thursday for would be growers, processors and sellers of the drug.

Sellers would have to be at least 1,000 feet from schools, playgrounds, child care centers, public parks or libraries. Stores could have limited signage or advertising, with no views of products from the street. And absolutely no kids allowed in the stores, processing facilities or growing areas.

The Washington State Liquor Control Board will be taking public comments on the proposal through June 10 before issuing final rules. . .

To read the rest of this item, or to comment, or for a link to the complete draft of the Liquor Control Board Rules, continue inside the blog.

OLYMPIA — The Washington State Liquor Control Board started the process to set a new rule ban the use of marijuana in bars.

One might say that Initiative 502, which legalized marijuana use by adults, was pretty clear about that by saying it's illegal to open a package of marijuana or have “useable marijuana” in view of the general public. But a couple of bars, including one in Olympia, have been allowing customers to smoke marijuana in special rooms set aside as private clubs. 

Not surprisingly, this has raised some concerns from law enforcement about people who consume both marijuana and products dispensed by the bar, then try to make their way home on the highways and byways.

The liquor board must go through several steps to craft such a rule, which can be seen by clicking here. The board is taking public comments until May 10.

Anticipating a large crowd at Tuesday’s forum on legalized marijuana rules, a state agency made an 11th hour decision to move to a bigger room.

The Washington State Liquor Control Board’s forum on its efforts to comply with Initiative 502 will be held in the Spokane Convention Center, starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday.. A spokesman for the board said agency officials feared the Spokane City Council Chambers, which holds about 190 people in the basement of Spokane City Hall, wouldn’t be big enough.

The three previous forums all generated crowds bigger than the Council Chambers and an overflow room for 100 people would have held, Mikhail Carpenter said. More than 350 people showed up for the first forum in Olympia, about 500 attended the Seattle forum and about 400 were at the Vancouver forum.

The convention center ballroom will hold 450, and can be expanded if necessary.

The board announced new locations for other planned forums, and added new meetings to its schedule early last week. But the new location for Spokane wasn’t nailed down until late Friday. Because of that, a story in Sunday’s Spokesman-Review and three newspaper ads about the forum all had the old address.

Carpenter said the board hopes to a sign at City Hall directing people to the Convention Center, which is several blocks east on Spokane Falls Boulevard. 

I-502 made the private use of marijuana by people 21 and over legal, but currently there's not a legal way to purchase the drug. The law put  the board in charge of adopting rules for growing, processing and selling marijuana, with a mandate to have those rules in place by Dec. 1.

The Washington State Liquor Control Board held its first public forum last night in Olympia on efforts to get ready for legalized marijuana under the new voter-approved law.

It got an earful, for more than 2  hours. Expect more of the same as they travel around the state, including a stop in Spokane on Feb. 12 at Spokane City Hall. 

If you want to listen to last night's testimony, they have a recording online. Just click here to be connected.

OLYMPIA – In legalizing marijuana last fall, voters created more questions for the Legislature, not fewer.

Some, including how the federal government is going to react, can’t be answered yet, officials from the State Liquor Control Board told the Senate committee Monday.

Law and Justice Committee Chairman Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, said he’s heard concerns that any revenue the state collects from taxes on growing, processing or selling marijuana could be seized by the Justice Department under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, statutes. Is that possible, he asked. . .

To read the rest of this item, or to comment, click here to go inside the blog.

OLYMPIA — One of the state's six hearings on how things are going with the legalization of marijuana in Washington is set for Spokane next month.

The Washington State Liquor Control Board, which is working on ways to set up legal production of marijuana, will hold the fourth of its forums in the Spokane City Council Chambers on Feb. 12. Other forums will be in Olympia, Seattle, Vancouver, Mount Vernon and Yakima during January and February.

The forums will start with an open house at 6 p.m., then a welcome and overview from the board at 7 p.m. The board will stay until 10 p.m. to hear comments and suggestions from the public.

The board is also putting together a list of questions and answers, as well as the tentative timeline to get all its work done as required by law on Dec. 1. Information on that can be found here. 

OLYMPIA – Washington residents have suggestions for how the state should write new rules to grow legal marijuana. Hundreds of them.

Some want the state Liquor Control Board, which is trying to come up with those rules, to keep out the large corporations. Others want the board to limit the kinds of chemicals that could be used to fight of weeds, bugs or mold. Still other fear the taxes will be too high or regulations too restrictive and stub out a budding industry.

And a few are still unhappy that Initiative 502 passed last fall, removing state penalties for personal use of marijuana by adults. . .

To read the rest of this item, or to comment, click here to go inside the blog.

To send a comment or suggestion to the Washington State Liquor Control Board on regulations to govern the production of legal marijuana, click here.