cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Bill Suffers Another Setback
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Medical Marijuana Bill Suffers Another Setback
Posted by CN Staff on May 20, 2011 at 20:14:20 PT
By Mike Baker, Associated Press
Source: Associated Press 
Washington State -- A push to officially recognize medical marijuana dispensaries in Washington state suffered another setback Friday after lawmakers failed to get enough support to move a bare-bones proposal out of committee.Democratic Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles said she was still working to gather support for the plan, which would simply give counties with more than 200,000 people the ability to allow medical marijuana dispensaries. She said officials around Seattle and Tacoma had been pleading with her to get something passed, but it stumbled without support from Tacoma-area Democrats.
The plan is dramatically scaled down from one lawmakers passed earlier this year that would have provided statewide regulation of the outlets. Kohl-Welles also dropped a proposal that would have created a statewide registry of marijuana patients — something designed to give them protection from arrest."I'm getting to the point that, if we can't do it, then there's going to be a lot of consequences," Kohl-Welles said. The special session is scheduled to end Wednesday.Kohl-Welles wasn't able to get enough votes to move the proposal out of committee even though no lawmakers spoke out against the measure. A voice vote on the bill overwhelmingly favored passage, but official voting is done on paper. There, Kohl-Welles came up short.A group of Democrats from Pierce County — Sens. Jim Kastama of Puyallup, Derek Kilmer of Gig Harbor and Steve Conway of Tacoma — either voted against the bill or did not vote to pass it. They opposed the previous medical marijuana in committee as well.Senate Republican Leader Mike Hewitt, who helped pass the medical marijuana proposal in the regular session, voted against the new measure. He said he didn't support the bill on principle because it's not necessary for the budget, which lawmakers are spending much of their time negotiating."It's just wanting to stay focused on the budget," Hewitt said.The initial proposal to provide statewide oversight was rejected by Gov. Chris Gregoire last month after federal prosecutors warned that state employees who regulate the industry would not be immune from prosecution.Dispensaries are not specifically allowed nor forbidden under current state statutes, although that hasn't stopped them from popping up since voters approved a medical marijuana law in 1998. But current state law does not allow for marijuana sales. It mandates that patients must grow it themselves or designate a caregiver to grow it for them.Proponents of the law contend that patients with terminal or debilitating conditions do not have the ability or resources to grow marijuana, so they believe retail-like access is needed to prevent a black market.Source: Associated Press (Wire)Author: Mike Baker, Associated Press Published: May 20, 2011Copyright: 2011 The Associated PressCannabisNews  Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on May 21, 2011 at 06:24:40 PT
Just a Song
 Have a wonderful weekend. Finally the rain has stopped and it's a beautiful day. Here's a song for today!R.E.M. - It's The End Of The World http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY
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