Help Protect our Youth from Marijuana, Comment Period on Rules Open until 10am Dec. 3, 2014

WASAVP reminds the substance abuse prevention community that the Liquor Control Board comment period on proposed revisions to marijuana rules ends tomorrow, December 3, and email comments to rules@liq.wa.gov are critical (today!).

It is important to help communities across the state have a voice in the continuing evolution of the rules that govern the recreational marijuana industry.  No doubt, the marijuana industry is working to expand the market without a trained eye on preventing harm to kids and communities. The LCB needs our perspective!

We can offer this by supporting coalition members, community advocates and concerned parents to comment individually on these rules and share this Action Alert via their social media networks.

Advocates have already had some success as many rule revisions being considered will help protect kids. See below for some easy advocacy steps and details on the full slate of revisions being considered.  Some highlights include:

• Further restricting edibles that appeal to kids
• Improved child-proof packaging
• Posting “no firearms” signs at MJ facility entrances
• Edibles must be homogenized for uniform disbursement
• Prohibiting certain perishable items and infused dairy butter or fats as stand-alone edibles for sale
• Re-sealable, child resistant packaging on edibles containing more than one serving
• Increase total statewide grow canopy from 2 million sq. ft. to max of 8.5 million based on market demand*

*Note: increased grow canopy is intended, in part, to get 502 stores additional product to help capture some of the illicit and medical market that likely dominates both the in- and out- of state supply chain. Without the medical marijuana system under control, and while it continues to capture the majority of the recreational MJ market, we are concerned that expanding state licensed grow capacity might only serve to further flood the market and decrease price–both of which can increase youth access. To consider is that 8.5 Million sq. ft. of canopy at 40 grams per square foot per harvest will supply about 850,000 daily marijuana users–many more than exist in WA State. Experts have predicted a majority of WA MJ will be illegally exported. Will expanding the grow canopy just support illegal export? Or, is the export business primarily served by the cheaper medical market, illegal dispensaries, and illicit cartels? Is it even possible to influence the recreational market with policy modifications when the medical market is unregulated and overwhelmingly serving recreation demand? This is a complex issue that prevention professionals should consider carefully in terms of local and statewide impact.