The Columbian, 11 Feb 2013 – Liquor Control Board Is Finding the Road to Marijuana Reform Is Full of Bumps Taking the pot show on the road is producing more questions than answers for the Washington State Liquor Control Board. Previously, the board made tour stops at marijuana forums in Seattle and Olympia, listening to questions and answers about the decision by voters last fall to legalize recreational use of marijuana by adults. Thursday evening, the WSLCB visited Vancouver and heard from a crowd of about 400 people at Clark College’s Gaiser Hall.

Seattle Times, 10 Feb 2013 – IN the campaign over legalizing marijuana, the loudest voices for "no" came from medical users who feared they would unfairly lose their right to drive. They can relax. Initiative 502’s standard for driving under the influence has not led to the crackdown they predicted. There has been no jump in "green DUIs," said the Washington State Patrol’s toxicologist, Dr. Fiona Couper, at the hearing in Olympia Wednesday of the House Public Safety Committee. Seattle DUI attorney Patricia Fulton reported "absolutely no effect" in her defense practice.

DrugSense

Seattle Times, 08 Feb 2013 – Acrimony and Politics Brewing As Washington Begins to Write Its Laws Controlling Legal Marijuana. Debate, acrimony and recriminations – in other words, politics – around the state’s new legal marijuana law have intensified in the state Capitol.

Seattle Times, 07 Feb 2013 – OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) – The state toxicologist says she hasn’t seen a spike in positive blood tests for marijuana since pot became legal under Washington law. Voters last fall passed Initiative 502, allowing adults over 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. The measure, which took effect Dec. 6, set a driving-under-the-influence limit designed to be similar to the .08 blood-alcohol content for drunken driving – 5 nanograms of active THC per milliliter of blood.

The Columbian, 05 Feb 2013 – The Jan. 28 editorial, "Pot pressure intensifies," justified supporting I-502 because "marijuana prohibition has been a miserable failure in multiple ways." That twisted line of reasoning could be used to justify legalizing any number of crimes, from murder to using cellphones when driving. The Columbian touted the "wisdom" of voters in passing I-502 by 55.7 percent. However, if you look at the voting records, it becomes apparent the law passed due to the large population of the Puget Sound area out-voting the rest of the state.

Seattle Times, 31 Jan 2013 – Washington Working Its Way Through Regulating ‘Weed’ TACOMA – Wanted: A green thumb with extensive knowledge of the black, or at least gray, market. As Washington state tries to figure out how to regulate its newly legal marijuana, officials are hiring an adviser on all things weed: how it’s best grown, dried, tested, labeled, packaged and cooked into brownies.

Seattle Times, 31 Jan 2013 – To get a handle on the strange new reality of Washington’s legal marijuana market, consider what could happen when state-licensed pot stores open in December and none of the businesses can get a bank account. That means no fiscal paper trail for state tax auditors and regulators to follow. No commercial loans or credit-card processing. And piles and piles of cash, in a startup industry estimated at $2 billion.

The Herald, 31 Jan 2013 – I am concerned about the legalization of marijuana in our state for several reasons. First, marijuana is a drug. It impacts the user’s ability to make decisions and impairs their judgment. This could put the users and the people around them in danger. For example, a driver who has been using marijuana will be impaired with slower reactions behind the wheel and since there is no test for the use of marijuana, the police cannot detect if they have been using it. Making marijuana legal for use by adults 21 and over will expose teenagers and children to the drug and make it more accessible to them. This will definitely result in increased use of marijuana by the children and teenagers of our state and will affect their ability to focus and learn in school and at home and could place them in danger.

The Herald, 30 Jan 2013 – SEATTLE – So far, no one is suggesting checkpoints or fences to keep Washington state’s legal pot within its borders. But Gov. Jay Inslee insists there are ways to prevent the bulk smuggling of the state’s newest cash crop into the black market, including digitally tracking weed to ensure that it goes from where it is grown to the stores where it is sold.