When
the State of Washington voted to legalize marijuana in November, legislators
envisioned a tourism explosion. As such, they have begun to prepare for this
sudden influx of visitors in an attempt to prevent pot tourism from opening the
door to illegal activities. A new state-hired consultant projects that the
State of Washington may earn an additional $180 million a year in tax revenue
from marijuana sales alone.
Entrepreneurs
are also preparing for marijuana tourism as a serious tourism industry and
would like to see Washington's pot tourism take-off in the coming years. They
have already begun planning different business models in order to take full
advantage of the pot tourism. Even Washington's wine industry has anticipated
full tours through organic pot farms, similar to winery tours and brewery
tours.
Washington's
new pot tourism will mean that more individuals will be able to get into the
mix, including tour guides, guidebook writers, and even smoothie companies who
are looking to sell marijuana infused smoothies. Local artists have even begun
to create merchandise and art works that in an attempt to sell Washington's new
"brand" of tourism. These coffee mugs, t-shirts, and hand towels will
depict the most popular marijuana strains.
Even
the Seattle police have gotten into the mix and have provided a guide to the
legal use of marijuana. This guide is titled "Marijwhatnow? A Guide to Legal Marijuana Use in Seattle."
The
State of Washington recently hired a pot tsar to help them determine exactly
how to regulate the production, distribution, and sale of legalized marijuana.
Yet even as the state continues to move forward with legalized marijuana,
providers and patients in Washington's medical marijuana community would prefer
to remain segregated from I-502's rules, licenses, and taxes.
Currently,
state laws allow patients who have medical marijuana authorization to grow
their own cannabis plants. They are also legally protected and allowed to
participate in collective gardens. The difference between medicinal marijuana
and recreational marijuana has a lot to do with a compound called cannabidiol
(CBD). This compound helps provide pharmacological effects that can aide
patients suffering from cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, and other chronic-pain
conditions. Medicinal marijuana plants are often bred to yield lower levels of
THC and higher levels of CBD.
While
the medical marijuana community might be exempt from I-502's rules, a new tax
is currently being proposed in the Washington state House. If this passes, it
will tax medical marijuana 25% in order to avoid an underground market for
medicinal pot once recreational marijuana is legally sold. Finance Chair Reuven
Carlyle wants to treat medicinal marijuana the same as recreational
marijuana—especially when it comes to taxation. This would mirror voter
approved I-502 for medicinal marijuana in the State of Washington and is not
necessarily welcomed by marijuana advocates and patients who rely on medicinal
marijuana for relief.
