| FireweedFarm.com |
Fireweed Farms became the first recreational marijuana grow in Washington to auction off their harvest last week, pulling in about $600,000 for around 300 pounds of herb.
Bud was sold by the gram in several lots, mostly by strain with about 40 people on hand. Herb was on display in plastic baggies, but consumption was not allowed.
While it is perfectly fine for you to get hammered on booze in the back of a limo or party bus in Washington while smoking a disgusting cigar, don’t you dare light up some herb and catch a little buzz.
| For adults only. |
In a move so that defies common sense so much that it is baffling, recreational and medical pot stores in Washington can sell cannabis brownies and cookies but can’t sell candy or lollipops because the latter might be appealing to kids.
Adults apparently don’t ever eat candy in Washington, ever. Movie theaters must be stocked with kale chips.
Want to own a marijuana shop in Washington state? You’d better have a clean record around the country first.
Washington officials say they have been granted permission by the FBI to use the FBI’s national crime database for checks on marijuana store owners.
In a move that somehow attracted very little media attention last week, a Washington state appeals court upheld a previous decision allowing the County of Kent to ban all medical marijuana-related collective cannabis gardens and growing operations.
In doing so, they may very well have driven the final nail into the coffin of true, legal medical marijuana in the same state that joined Colorado in 2012 as becoming the first two in the country to legalize recreational weed smoking.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, misdemeanor marijuana possession charges have dropped dramatically since voters passed Initiative-502 in 2012. Court records show that there were only 120 low-level cases brought to the courts in 2013 compared to a whopping 5,531 in 2012. They say that represents a major shift in law enforcement priorities towards real crimes.
But talk to the King County prosecutor’s office and you’ll get a different story: misdemeanor pot charges weren’t a major issue before the laws, and they aren’t really now.
Washington state’s appropriately-named Sean Green became the first person allowed to sell recreational marijuana in that state yesterday, as his Kouchlock Productions received their business license.
Of course, now he has to wait until at least June to begin selling anything.
In a move chided by most medical marijuana patients and just about every medical marijuana collective owner in the state, the Washington state House last night approved a bill that would eliminate medical pot shops as they currently exist and force patients into a heavily-taxed recreational system.
House Bill 2149 passed by a vote of 67 to 29 last night, has been billed as a way to help keep federal agents out of Washington as well as a way to help funnel more tax revenue through the recreational system. The measure also decreases the total amount of plants patients can grow at home from 15 down to six and drops possession limits from 24 ounces to three.
Both Colorado and Washington made history in 2012 by becoming the first two states to legalize recreational marijuana use for adults. But while Colorado-based pot shops have been raking in mile-high profits since implementing the new laws at the beginning of this year, folks in Washington are still waiting for the green light to begin their own green rush.
But not everyone in Washington is excited about the controversial new industry coming to their neck of the woods. Nearly three dozen of the state’s 75 largest cities, towns, and municipalities have scrambled to enact ordinances, restrictions, and outright bans to keep any eventual recreational weed stores from opening up in their neighborhood.
As covered by local KING 5 News, a new bill (HB 2144) is in the works that would effectively place a ban on any future bans on pot shops, and it has some city officials hot under the collar.