Thoughts from the void: Cannabis and Washington

Washington state is currently the only one among legal recreational use states where home growing of cannabis is prohibited. Advocates say that home growing is one of, if not the most, important steps that should be taken in cannabis legalization. This truly frees the plant from its restrictions and enables individuals especially the ones who cannot afford to pay for expensive cannabis and the ones in remote places or people who are physically impaired and the elderly to grow their own cannabis for personal use just like they would any other herb in their garden.

Washington is looking to change this and align with other recreationally legalized states by allowing adults 21 and older to cultivate up to 6 cannabis plants for personal use and up to 15 plants in single unit residences with multiple adults.. At least 35 US states have legalized cannabis for medical use so far. The federal US government however continues to keep cannabis in the Schedule 1 list of banned substances saying that it has no medicinal value. The list of US states that have legalized adult recreational cannabis is available here. All these states have legalized cannabis for adult recreational use, aimed specifically at improving public health, ensuring equity, reducing crime, decreasing the black market, improving law enforcement, reforming criminal justice, improving the economy, agriculture and industry, to name just a few reasons.

Washington brought about legalization through Initiative 502 in 2012 becoming one of the first states in the US to legalize cannabis for adult recreational use. Washington state and its capital Seattle have a long history of cannabis usage and the recreational plant is ingrained into the culture of the state. So it was no surprise that the state was one of the first movers towards legalization. However being an early mover has its price. '“There’s a saying in the business world: ‘Pioneers get slaughtered, and settlers get fat,’” said Greg James, publisher of industry magazine Marijuana Venture , based near Seattle according to an AP news article. Washington can be treated as one of the case studies for states and countries trying to define legalization policies since there are many lessons learnt in the state due to its long period of legalization experience.

Many individuals still face criminal records for cannabis convictions for which they were charged before legalization happened. Expunging these criminal records so that these individuals can find jobs and move on is one of the important actions that is now starting to happen. The state's Department of Corrections only recently stopped testing individuals entering prisons for cannabis given that traces of cannabis remain in the body for weeks and recreational use is legal in the state. The state's cannabis market has evolved to the extent that trade unions are approaching people employed in the cannabis industry. Washington has an evolved cannabis journalism market with a number of cannabis related magazines and publishers who have been around for some time. The state's agriculture department recently released the list of acceptable pesticides to be used for cannabis cultivation.

Being one of the early states to legalize cultivation has seen instances where cannabis crops have exceeded demand, resulting in falling prices. The fact that interstate export is still prohibited due to the federal ban limits options for farmers. Only about half the available cannabis canopy licensed for cultivation is currently being used with the reasons cited being low prices and lack of capital investment. The state is considering allowing small farmers to sell directly to consumers so as to get better prices and increase sales. With increasing legalization across the US, the imminent federal legalization of cannabis, the cannabis sector emerging as one of the fastest growing sectors and given the widespread shortage of cannabis in the world in general, it should be only a matter of time before the situation improves for the cannabis farmer.

Washington state shares its borders with Canada. Both the state and Canada have legalized recreational cannabis so there should ideally be no cannabis related issues at the border. Unfortunately the federal government of the US still considers cannabis illegal and so has stopped a number of Canadian cannabis businessmen from entering the US through the border.

Washington's current governor Jay Inslee is one of the strong supporters of cannabis and has championed the cause at the level of the federal government.

Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.

'Colorado and Washington were the first two states in the United States to legalize the production of cannabis for non-medical use, in 2012. However, prior to legalization, those states and others, such as California, had various regimes in place that permitted or tolerated the production and sale of cannabis for medical use, which allowed people with a range of conditions that were not well-defined to gain access to cannabis. The states of Colorado and Washington, for which more long-term trend data are available, are interesting case studies for examining the public health and public safety outcomes that have emerged in the years since the production of cannabis for non-medical use was legalized.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'A study on the impact of cannabis legalization on alcohol sales in Colorado, Oregon and Washington, the three states with the longest history of legal nonmedical use of cannabis, showed that there was no evidence that legalization had had any impact on the sale of spirits or on total alcohol sales, which are generally considered a good proxy for alcohol consumption in the United States. The study showed that the per capita sale of spirits had increased by 3.6 per cent in Oregon, 5.4 per cent in Washington and 7.6 per cent in Colorado in 2018, after the measures allowing the non-medical use of cannabis were implemented in those states. Consistent with national trends, per capita sales of beer had declined by 3.6 per cent in Colorado, 2.3 per cent in Washington and 3.6 per cent in Oregon. The sale of wine increased by 0.7 per cent in Oregon, declined by 3.1 per cent in Washington and increased by 3.2 per cent in Colorado. Overall, per capita sales of alcoholic beverages were fairly stable, as they increased by 1.7 per cent in Colorado, declined by 0.2 per cent in Washington and declined by 0.5 per cent in Oregon' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'In Washington, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol is considered the number one contributing factor in fatal crashes and is involved in nearly half of all traffic fatalities. However, in that state, reporting on such cases does not differentiate between cannabis and other drugs. The number of reported cases of driving under the influence of drugs has increased by more than 60 per cent in Washington since 2014. Although not so recent, data on drivers involved in fatal crashes who tested positive for alcohol or drugs in Washington during the period 2008–2016 show that 44 per cent tested positive for two or more substances. Of those substances, the most common one was alcohol, followed by THC, while alcohol and THC formed the most common polydrug combination involved in fatal crashes during that period.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'In Washington state, the past-month use of cannabis among high-school students of different grades has generally remained stable, although it increases by grade, with the highest past-month prevalence found among twelfth grade students, as in Colorado. The perception of risk relating to cannabis use among high-school students has also declined since the nonmedical use of cannabis was legalized, with nearly three quarters of twelfth grade students seeing no or low risk in trying cannabis a few times and less than half perceiving no or low risk in the regular use of cannabis in 2018. Similarly, some 38 per cent of twelfth grade students considered that it was fairly easy to get cannabis.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'Even as Bruce was being buried in Seattle, more headlines about him were appearing in the Hong Kong press. First lab tests from the autopsy, not done until thirty-six hours after death, were just coming in, and the big sensation was again "cannabis." Eventually the fact that there were traces of cannabis, or marijuana in Lee's stomach was completely discredited as a reason for his death. A doctor later said that it had as much meaning as telling him Lee had drunk a cup of tea the day he died.' - The Legend of Bruce Lee by Alex Ben Block, 1974

'Safe in Mexico, I watched the anti-junk campaign. I read about child addicts and Senators demanding the death penalty for dope peddlers. It didn't sound right to me. Who wants kids fr customers? They never have enough money and they always spill under questioning. Parents find out the kid is on junk and go to the law. I figured that either Stateside peddlers have gone simple-minded or the whole child-addict set-up is a propaganda routine to stir up anti-junk sentiment and pass some new laws.
Refugee hipsters trickled into Mexico. "Six months for needle marks under the vag-addict law in California." "Eight years for a dropper in Washington." "Two to ten for selling in New York."' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953

"We don’t think this is something only we should do, but we are really hoping to start the conversation," she said. "We are really hoping to create a better connection between the cannabis industry and the environment in general."
https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/west-seattle-weed-marijuana-shop-starts-recycling-program/281-5fa77945-3abd-4aaf-96c5-590298691799

'The study, published in the journal Justice Quarterly and funded by the federal National Institute of Justice, found that violent and property crimes rates were not affected in a statistically significant way in the years after Colorado and Washington State became the first in the nation to legalize marijuana for adult use.

“Our results suggest that marijuana legalization and sales have had minimal to no effect on major crimes in Colorado or Washington,” the paper concluded. “We observed no statistically significant long-term effects of recreational cannabis laws or the initiation of retail sales on violent or property crime rates in these states.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/marijuana-legalization-doesnt-cause-increased-crime-federally-funded-study-finds/

'Nearly three in four licensed health care professionals in Washington state endorse the use of medical cannabis as a substitute for opioids in patients with chronic pain, according to survey data published in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research.

Researchers with the University of Washington School of Nursing surveyed a random sampling of actively licensed health care professionals legally permitted to provide medical cannabis authorizations in the state of Washington.

Of eligible respondents, 72 percent agreed with the statement, “Medical marijuana should be used to reduce the use of opioids for non-cancer pain.” Several studies [links] report that pain patients enrolled in state-sponsored cannabis access programs reduce or eliminate their use of opioid pain relievers over time.'
https://norml.org/blog/2020/07/15/survey-majority-of-health-care-professionals-endorse-cannabis-use-instead-of-opioids-in-chronic-pain-patients/