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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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Live chat set for tonight’s marijuana forum

The Columbian
Published:

We’ll be live blogging and hosting a chat during Thursday night’s public forum on Initiative 502, which legalized recreational use of marijuana for adults.

The forum, which will include time for public testimony, will be hosted at Clark College’s Gaiser Hall, 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, in Vancouver, by the Washington State Liquor Control Board. That agency has been tasked with implementing the desire of the majority of voters who believe adults should be able to toke in the privacy of their home and be able to carry an ounce of marijuana — or 16 ounces of a marijuana-infused product in solid form (think brownies) or 72 ounces of a marijuana-infused product in liquid form — in public without fear of arrest.

The forum starts at 6 p.m. with an open house, where the public can meet members of the Liquor Control Board and their staff.

An open house begins at 6 p.m., brief introductions by board members starts at 7 p.m. and public comment begins at 7:15 p.m. The public comment period is scheduled until 10 p.m. The meeting had been scheduled to take place in a smaller room on the college’s campus.

The Liquor Control Board has hosted marijuana forums with large crowds in Seattle and Olympia, and has forums scheduled for Spokane, Mount Vernon and Yakima.

In the fall, voters approved Initiative 502, which made recreational marijuana use legal for people 21 and older. Those people can smoke pot in the privacy of their home or carry an ounce of marijuana, 16 ounces of marijuana-infused food, or 72 ounces of marijuana-infused liquid.

Now the state’s Liquor Control Board is tasked with establishing rules about producing, processing and selling marijuana. The board can decide how many retail outlets will be allowed to sell pot and how many licenses will be granted for marijuana producers, processors and retailers.

Retail licenses are scheduled to become active on Dec. 1.

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