The State of Washington has
tentatively chosen their new marijuana consultant. Mark Kleiman is a professor
of public policy at UCLA and the head of Botec Analysis Corp. Botec has
evaluated government programs in the past, relating to drug abuse, crime, and
public health and provided in-depth analysis and consulting for these programs.
Now, Kleiman and Botec will be responsible for advising Washington state
officials as they attempt to develop rules for new legal marijuana laws.
Washington and Colorado made
headlines last year when they became the first states in the nation to pass
laws legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. They are now in the process
of setting up rules and systems for state-licenses growers, processors, and
retail stores. This also includes developing rules for marijuana taxing.
According to the Associated Press, sales of marijuana are expected to begin at
the end of 2013 at the earliest.
Washington State's Liquor Control
Board is currently trying to determine how many growers and stores they should
allow, how much pot should be produced, types of packaging, and the appropriate
testing of THC content. Even while Washington gears up for its own pot
industry, marijuana remains illegal under federal law and many wonder if the
government will attempt to block the licensing schemes from taking effect.
‘‘Hopefully the feds will cooperate
so Washington won’t be sending money down the drain,’’
--Khurshid
Khoja regarding the new pot laws
Some of Botec's responsibilities
will be to cover quality testing to determine the appropriate levels of THC,
statistical analysis of how much marijuana to produce, and development of
regulations. He faces a daunting task, since marijuana has never been regulated
or legal before in this country. If Washington State produces too much
marijuana, then there is a risk of it being trafficked out of the state.
Producing too little marijuana results in a dangerous spike in the black
market.
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