Patients Need Protecting from S5052
- M. Doherty, 11/2/2015, Borrowed Planet Blog
Category: Natural Medicine, Marijuana Patients
Washington State does not have legal marijuana. It is not legal to possess, carry, sell or buy marijuana outside of an approved I-502 shop. You can still be arrested for possession of marijuana – which happens once a minute in the United States of America. One person is arrested for possession every minute of every day in the USA. That's outrageous.
Washington State has enacted I-502 which allows the following:
You may purchase cannabis at a state licensed shop with valid government issued identification proving that you are over 21 years of age. You cannot buy for other people that are not 21 years of age and you cannot have marijuana unless you are 21 years of age or over.
If you are over 21 years of age and you want to buy marijuana, you are allowed to possess:
1 oz dried Cannabis flower (bud)
7 grams of Cannabis extracts (oil)
16 oz solid edibles and topicals (cookies)
72 oz liquid edibles and topicals (marijuana infused iced coffee)
You CAN get a DUI! In Washington State driving your car with 5 nanograms of THC (Tetrahydrocannabinal, the chemical that causes your psychoactive high) per ml of blood is “driving under the influence.” What does this mean? If you're high and driving your blood test will reveal this to police. Don't drive and smoke in your car.
S5052 passed and has been signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee (D-WA) this year. S5052 severely limits patients accessibility to quality medicine by forcing them to purchase cannabis in the approved I-502 stores. They also have limited the number of plants to 15 in a single housing unit regardless of the number of patients living in that unit. Collective Gardens are now banned – a once beautiful and cooperative tradition in the cannabis world is now gone under S5052. In their place, up to four medical patients and designated providers may grow plants at the home of one of those four patients and they may grow the total number of plants allowed for the four members (still no more than 15). Those patient sharing cooperatives must be registered with the Liquor Control Board just like the I-502 stores.
Why would a medical marijuana patient not want to visit an approved I-502 store to purchase their medicine? This is largely because the quality of marijuana purchased at an I-502 store is far inferior to the kind of cannabis a medical patient needs to live. Keep that in mind – medical marijuana is not smoking to get high, it's smoking to live. While I-502 stores sell strains of marijuana that are high in THC and can get you a good high, they are not infused with the necessary medical cannabinoids that are needed to treat medical disorders like cancer and epilepsy. There are 85 active cannabinoids identified in cannabis. There are three major types of cannabinoids needed to make medical marijuana assist people medically:
Cannabidiol – (CBD), is responsible for a sense of well being an calm. It is also used to treat brain disorders such as epilepsy.
Cannabigerol – (CBG), is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid found in the genus, or “stem cells,” of the 85 other cannabinoids with medical properties such as THC and CBD.
Cannabinol – (CBN) is a weak psychoactive that makes you feel sleepy, which makes it a popular sedative for insomniacs and people living with chronic pain. When used as a topical it is capable of treating burns and psoriasis.
Why does this affect medical patients? Isn't it just about them getting a joint or two everyday safely? Not at all. Optimal therapeutic cannabis strains have a combination of CBD (non-intoxicating compound), and THC (the psychoactive substance) which will interact with each other for maximum effect. But THC is not what a patient is after – they needs the medicine rich CBD. As an example, medical marijuana patients treating anxiety, depression, muscle spasms and seizures need a CBD:THC of 10:1 This doesn't amount to a strain that is low in THC as THC is needed to make the medicine effective. Cancers and neurological diseases on the other hand, are treated with more of a balance between CBD:THC of 3:1 or even 1:1. In fact a 1:1 ratio for CBD:THC has been shown to be an effective treatment for neurological pain. Some strains one can buy at the I-502 stores have 0.15% CBD and 0.82% THC – in other words not good for a medical patient seeking treatment. Other strains are sold in packaging that just shows the “Total THC” which can range from 13% to 26% or more. This percentage wont tell a patient much about the medical properties of that strain and is therefore an unreliable way to measure medical capacity of any strain.
Also one must consider the financial burden the the I-502 stores place on patients. Most medical patients are very poor and live off assistance like Social Security and other fixed incomes. Many struggle to make their ends meet and keep roves over their heads let alone purchase medical marijuana. If an I-502 store sells a 1 oz joints for $10 a piece and I need 5 to 10 joints a day or 10 grams of marijuana flower per day that is going to get pricey quickly. The creation of the Collective Garden was a solution to meeting patient needs that also fostered a sense of community and safety for those whom treated the Collective Gardens with respect and love. Now that patients are limited to 4 members per collective and no more than 15 plants in any home, they are running out of options under the strict regulations of I-502 and S5052. Should a patient be unable to meet their medical need in the I-502 stores or with their own collectives, they will be forced back into the illegal black market of marijuana which will only fuel the anti-pot crowds and give the police more people to arrest for a plant. When it comes to being illegally alive than legally dead, the risk of arrest is worth it.
In addition, Seattle mayor Ed Murray is proposing the closure of over 60% of the patient access points currently in operation because they do not meet I-502 regulations even though they have been in business before the law went into affect. As of April 24, 2015 no patient under the age of 21 may donate to or access a collective garden, they need a designated caregiver to obtain their medical marijuana for them. Furthermore the Liquor Control Board will be holding “stings” with patients posing as minors attempting to buy weed to catch folks violating the law in the act. Additional restrictions went into affect on July 25th, 2015 affecting health care providers requiring even more authorizations from the Department of Health to prescribe medical marijuana to patients. Post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury are now recognized conditions for medical use as well. Finally, effective July 1, 2016 all marijuana producers, providers and retail stores must have licensing by the Liquor Control Board, any remaining Collective Gardens will be disbanded and replaced with 4 patient cooperatives that are registered with the Liquor Control Board. It is interesting to note that patients, as of July 1, 2016 will have the option of registering with Washington State. While registration is not mandatory, “patient possession limits change” with active registration. Many critics of S5052 believe this registry is a violation of HIPPA laws, protecting the privacy of patients and their medical treatment.
Washington cannabis lawyers Jeff Stenborn, Aaron Pelley and Douglas Hiatt have joined forces to seek an injunction to stop 5052 from going into full effect next July. The trio plan to file several different lawsuits that will hopefully eat away at the new law and thus return patient's rights to 69.51a standing, thus allowing for Collective Gardens and patient access points. In addition, they will work to limit authority of the Liquor Control Board to interfere with the ban of certain Cannabis products, extraction methods (butane) and sharing between patients. These lawsuits that this group of lawyers are planning are the best defense patients and their providers have against the regulations proposed and partially enacted by S5052.
Whatcom County has the fourth highest total of marijuana sales since I-502 was enacted in 2012, with a total of $160,438 in tax revenues going to the county. However there are no regulations in place for how the money should be spent as dictated by city governments. Bellingham is set to get the largest amount of marijuana tax revenues, $102,286 (6th highest amount in the state to any one city in the state of Washington) with Blaine coming in second at $4,672 total. What or whom will be the benefit of these additional tax dollars we cannot be sure yet as local governments have not issues guidelines.
Will the patients be paying tax on their medicine? Not all of it. While medical marijuana patients are exempt from paying sales tax in Washington State, they will be required to pay the excise tax, which can be 30% to 37% of the total sale. Paying this tax will be yet another huge hurdle to clear if you're living on the fixed low incomes that so many patients do throughout the country.
S5052 has a goal of enfolding the medical marijuana system of access points and collective gardens for patients into the recreational laws established by I-502. The existing patient law under 69.51a will be nullified with these new regulations completely in effect by July 2016. No collective gardens, no sharing medicine, a big reduction in the amount of marijuana you can possess even if you're a patient, and a reduction in the quality of medicine that you will be buying from a recreational shop all spell disaster for a medical patient whom is already facing daily battles just to live. In addition to being poor and persecuted for their medical care, we also have to content with the fact that marijuana, in spite of any Washington State laws, is not legal in the eyes of the Federal Government. Regardless of what the good people of Washington want, the United States Government in Washington D.C. Can still send a swat team to your home, raid your belongings and arrest you for possession of even one plant of marijuana. What about my 2 grams worth of joints? You aren't safe either. Neither are your kids, spouses, beys, children or families. There are plenty of examples of people languishing in the criminal justice system because of possession – and most of those examples are African American citizens of this country.
What does S5052 have to do with climate change? As long as marijuana remains illegal, hemp will also remain illegal. Hemp, currently banned under the Controlled Substances Act, does not contain the psychoactive cannabinoids or medical cannabinoids as previously discussed in marijuana. But it is banned by the Federal Government nonetheless. As discussed last week in S134 The Hemp Farming Act, S134 will remove hemp from the list of Controlled Substances following approval by the Senate Judiciary Committee to the House for a vote by members of Congress. As we learned last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee is headed by climate change deniers and those not sympathetic to the cause of legal marijuana and patient rights. While hemp and her sister marijuana share no psychoactive similarities and have never killed anyone due to overdose, they are treated like the life ruining drugs meth and cocaine.
What can I do? Firstly if you haven't sent in your ballot, do so. Secondly write to Governor Jay Inslee and tell him why you don't like S5052 and/or I-502. Call his office and say you want to law changed to something that better protects medical marijuana patients. In addition, write and/or call Mayor Ed Murray to express your dislike for S5052 and/or I-502 and encourage the mayor to make responsible choices in changing the law. Lobby the Liquor Control Board to reassess their rule procedures so that these regulations are more sensible and easier for citizens to follow. Lastly, write to each and every member of the Senate Judiciary committee and urge them to approve S134 Hemp Farming Act. The passage of that bill and its enactment into law has the potential to be the dawn of a new age in green energy and environmental protection.
If you want to donate to the legal fund to put an injunction on 5052, visit Access Washington's gofundme.com page at https://www.gofundme.com/saveaccesswa today.
SOURCES:
www.medicaljane.com/2013/08/19/cannabinol-cbn-will-put-you-to-bed
NW Leaf Magazine, Editor in Chief Wes Abney, June 2015 and July 2015, www.nwleaf.com
https://thejointblog.com/multiple-changes-to-washingtons-medical-cannabis-law-now-in-effect/
https://www.leafly.com/news/headlines/washington-governor-signs-senate-bill-5052-into-law
The Bellingham Herald, “Whatcom County, cities to get nearly $268,000 of pot tax,” by Kie Relyea, sunday November 1, 2015