Washington State Gears Up for Marijuana Industry

April 22, 2013

Washington is one of the two U.S. states where voters last year legalized the recreational use of small amounts of marijuana, even though the drug remains illegal under federal law. The other state is Colorado, and both are drafting regulations to govern cultivation and sale of the drug. VOA's Mike O'Sullivan visited Seattle in the northwest state of Washington, where officials expect a multi-million-dollar marijuana industry to be in place later this year.

Medical marijuana already was legal in Washington and 17 other states. At a Seattle dispensary called The Joint, a steady stream of patients comes and buys marijuana in its many forms, including marijuana-laced cookies and cannabis-infused soda. Founder Shy Sadis hopes to expand to sell recreational marijuana.

"All around Washington, and eventually some day, possibly in Oregon, California, Colorado, wherever cannabis is legal," he said.

Medical marijuana requires a doctor's recommendation, and dispensaries are set up as non-profit cooperatives. A different framework is being created for recreational marijuana, said Washington State legislator Roger Goodman.

"We have to have regulations that put in place means to produce cannabis, to process it and to sell it, that's economical enough to be sold at a price that's lower than the black market, and yet a price that is high enough to deter youth consumption," said Goodman.