{"id":509,"date":"2016-01-31T05:14:17","date_gmt":"2016-01-31T05:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?p=509"},"modified":"2017-11-06T05:55:25","modified_gmt":"2017-11-06T13:55:25","slug":"legalization-in-washington-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/legalization-in-washington-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Legalization in Washington State"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Today marijuana is legal in some fashion in almost 50% of our United States. \u00a0We&#8217;ve probably mentioned this already but we&#8217;re soon heading to Seattle for a little industry happening called <a href=\"http:\/\/cannacon.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CannaCan<\/a>. \u00a0Before we arrive, we&#8217;re taking a quick look at legalization in Washington State, one of the first two states to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012.<\/p>\n<h2>Marijuana Legalization<\/h2>\n<p>Washington State\u2019s amendments allowing for legal, recreational\u00a0weed did not happen overnight. Legalization advocates have been hard at work for over fifty years\u00a0and the adoption of pot for personal use by state legislators was a gradual sell.<\/p>\n<p>1998 marked the year Washington State voters enacted Initiative 692, the Medical Use of Marijuana Act. \u00a0I-692 was a groundbreaking move that allowed for patients and caregivers to possess and consume marijuana as part of their treatment for serious conditions like cancer, HIV or aids and in the treatment of certain chronic pain. The provisions of I-692 required that valid papers documenting doctor prescriptions accompany consumers and their product at all times. I-692 also clearly identified the conditions that patients would need to have in order to qualify for marijuana recommendations or prescriptions. \u00a0This legislation was, in the years following, amended again and again, each time broadening the medical conditions patients would need to qualify.<\/p>\n<h3>The Legalization Battle<\/h3>\n<p>Fast forward to 2012 and the approval of Initiative 502, which legalized cannabis for adults 21 years and older for personal, recreational use. Even though, however, Initiative 502 passed with great support, it took nearly two years for lawmakers to iron out details that would lead to the opening of Washington&#8217;s first official, government regulated pot shops.<\/p>\n<p>The day they did open shop, they nearly ran out of government regulated weed. \u00a0<em>Truth.<\/em> \u00a0You could say there was support there, <em>alright<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>But\u00a0what would a good marijuana recap be without some controversy? \u00a0Because Washington State is certainly <em>not<\/em> without\u00a0issues to address. Concerns over\u00a0licensing procedures, government tracking systems, the existing medicinal marijuana provisions and how to adequately detect drivers under the influence of weed and the safety precautions for drivers and those in certain employment sectors&#8230; Legalization is not a destination. \u00a0Legalization for marijuana at the state level is the beginning of what promises to be a lengthy logistical journey for residents and lawmakers alike.<\/p>\n<p>And there you have it. \u00a0Weed, though\u00a0it not without legislative\u00a0gray areas, is totally legal for all adults 21 and over in Washington State.<\/p>\n<p>As in the state where Seattle is.<\/p>\n<p>As in that sweet little pier where our team will be in T-minus 18 days for CannaCon.<\/p>\n<p>[<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/the-countdown-is-on-to-cannacon\/\"><em>Did we mention we\u2019ll be at CannaCon? Good. See you there.<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marijuana legalization isn&#8217;t an easy fight. The Washington State pot battle got it&#8217;s start over 50 years ago &#038; has just recently achieved it&#8217;s goal. See how<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[198,83,70,37,49,223],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.10 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Legalization in Washington State | Recreational Marijuana | Seattle Pot<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Marijuana legalization isn&#039;t an easy fight. The Washington State pot battle got it&#039;s start over 50 years ago &amp; has just recently achieved it&#039;s goal. See how\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/legalization-in-washington-state\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Legalization in Washington State | Recreational Marijuana | Seattle Pot\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Marijuana legalization isn&#039;t an easy fight. The Washington State pot battle got it&#039;s start over 50 years ago &amp; has just recently achieved it&#039;s goal. 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