24-ounce limit proposed for medical marijuana in Washington

Nation & World | 24-ounce limit proposed for medical marijuana | Seattle Times Newspaper
Patients authorized to possess or grow marijuana for medical reasons under Washington law would be limited to 24 ounces of harvested marijuana, plus six mature plants and 18 immature plants, according to an official draft rule filed by the state Department of Health today.

The filing of the draft rule starts a rule-making process and a public-comment period. A hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 25 in Tumwater, Thurston County.

The draft reduces amounts earlier considered by the health department and revealed in a “talking points” memo used to brief Gov. Christine Gregoire in February. Health-department officials said in the February memo that they planned to recommend 35 ounces of harvested marijuana plus 100 square feet of plant-growing area.

Gregoire’s staff told health-department officials the amount appeared to be on the high side, and that law enforcement and medical providers should be consulted. The health department convened an advisory panel consisting mainly of law-enforcement officials and a single doctor — a public-health HIV/AIDS expert who does not care for patients directly.

Law-enforcement officials have said their main concern is being able to distinguish legitimate patients from those who are hiding behind the law to grow and sell large amounts of marijuana. They said they consider 3 ounces a reasonable amount for the 60-day supply specified in Washington’s law, passed by voters in 1998.

That law allows patients with certain chronic, fatal or debilitating diseases to possess a 60-day supply with a doctor’s authorization.

The 24-ounce limit would put Washington State in line with Oregon’s medical marijuana limit.  I also am glad to see Washington moving toward defining a plant-canopy limit rather than a plant-count limit.  There are so many varieties of marijuana and so many growing methods that the harvest from one person’s six plants could be far greater than another person’s plants.  Or as an attorney at the Aspen NORML Legal Seminar remarked, “It’s like asking how much does ten dogs weigh?”  Someone could harvest at their plant limit, but be way under or way over their dried medicine possession limit.

Anything would be better than the ambiguous 60-day supply, especially with law enforcement putting on their stethoscopes and declaring that a patient only needs three ounces for two months.