Washington State's Legislature Refuses to Clarify Legal Status of Dispensaries

Though storefront medical marijuana operations can be found in Seattle and Tacoma, their existence is cloaked in a legal gray zone.

An attempt to legalize medical dispensaries, such as those found in California, is dead in the state legislature despite the best efforts of outspoken access advocate Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, a Democrat from Seattle.  "The bottom line is, it was very difficult to reach a full consensus. There wasn’t as much momentum and interest as there was last year," Kohl-Welles told The Seattle Times.

The bill would have established the legality of 105 dispensaries in Seattle, as well as establish a patient registry.

The hopes of medical access advocates now rests on the state of Washington's initiative to legalize the recreational use of pot.