UPDATE – Medical marijuana reform voted out of Health Care & Wellness Committee

Published: March 23, 2011

Earlier today, the House Health Care & Wellness Committee passed an improved version of SB 5073 out of committee. This bill may have to go through a finance committee before it can go to the full House, but the process is expected to go quickly. Please e-mail your representative TODAY and ask him or her to help protect patients by voting “yes” on SB 5073!

Just last week, a medical marijuana dispensary operator was convicted in state court when a jury found that medical marijuana dispensing wasn’t allowed under current law. This case underscores the urgent need for SB 5073, which would clearly protect state-regulated dispensing.

In addition to setting up a system of state-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries, the revised bill would protect all patients from arrest, not just those who register with the state. Currently, no patients are protected from arrest. The committee also replaced language preventing Washington doctors from operating practices “primarily” devoted to medical marijuana patient evaluations with a ban on practices “solely” for medical marijuana.

This bill could get a vote quickly, so please e-mail your representative now and feel free to pass this along to your friends and family.