Are Washington MMJ Dispensaries being forced to close?
- seniorsmmjnetwork
- Dec 19, 2014
- 2 min read
The Tacoma City Council revealed a plan to shut down unregulated pot shops in the start of the new year and there isn't much to stop them. This is the legal grey area occupied by established Medical Dispensaries. The announcement comes as a surprise to some and brings apprehension to others.
Senior residents in the Tacoma area have found relief in being able to walk into an established business, with professional practices to purchase their MMJ. Now the city wants to shut them down.
Tax revenue is an obvious driving factor. Currently Medical Dispensaries are not held to the same tax standards as State operated stores. Others have expressed concern for the volume of Dispensaries popping up in tight clusters due to lack of regulation.
Unfortunately, not all Medical Dispensaries are them same. (We encourage you to check out our personal reviews of Medical Dispensaries in the Puget Sound area.) Some operate at a standard higher than that required by the State, others lack in quality control and educated personell.
Kari Boiter, a spokeswoman for a medical marijuana advocacy group called Americans for Safe Access weighed in on closing all 56 Medical locations -
“You don’t shut down the good actors who are providing a service to patients,” she said. “That’s not good public policy. You send a grandma (to a retail store) to get lotions that won’t intoxicate her, and she’s not going to find that,” Boiter said.
A growing number of Medical Dispensary owners see this as the writing on the wall for things to come. With no legal safeguard and no further permits being granted, these established business owners could be force to shutter their doors and cut off many people who have come to rely on their services.
Many people will be watching the actions in Tacoma closely. Vietnam veteran Dennis Ragan said he turned to marijuana to help his post-traumatic stress disorder and severe back pain. A concern to many is that Recreational shops don’t have the low-THC products that MMJ patients sometimes need. THC produces the "high" people associate with Pot. There are now medical strains high in CBD (medicinal properties) but low in THC. He is among the 200-300 daily patients at one of the downtown locations.
The citizens of Tacoma would lose a great resource should this take place. We hope there is room to offer some permits to the many reputable MMJ Dispensaries, where the focus is medicinal purposes, not which strain is the most potent.
To get involved and voice your opinion, you can contact the Tacoma City Council members here - http://www.cityoftacoma.org/government/city_council
Here are a few links to other sources covering this story -
The News Tribune -
King 5 - http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/tacoma/2014/12/07/medical-marijuana-collectives/20072465/
Marijuana dot com -
Comments