Washington Bill to Repeal Marijuana Legalization Officially Dead for 2017
A legislative proposal that would repeal marijuana legalization in its entirety has been officially put to rest for the session.
The deadline for legislative proposals to make it out of their initial committees and still be considered for the 2017 session has officially passed, meaning House Bill 2096 is officially dead for the year. Also dead is a bill that would have made it illegal for those 21 and older to smoke cannabis “in the presence” of someone under 18 (both were filed by Representative Brad Klippert).
Given that all bills filed this year are for the 2017/2018 session, these measures will unfortunately still be in play next year, though the complete lack of support beyond Representative Klippert should leave no legalization advocate worried.
Unfortunately this cutoff also means that several positive marijuana-related bills have been put down for the year. This includes a measure to legalize home cultivation for everyone 21 and older, a measure to remove the limit on the number of marijuana outlets in the state, and a proposal to protect medical cannabis patients from workplace discrimination.
Still alive is legislation to allow medical cannabis on school grounds (which recently passed the House of Representatives), a measure to legalize hemp without a license (which also passed the full House), and a proposal to legalize marijuana deliveries (which recently passed its initial committee).
