City of Seattle wants share of state pot revenue

The city attorney in Seattle wants to make sure the state shares revenue from the legalization of marijuana.

In a letter to state rule-makers, Peter Holmes argued that local governments need to share in whatever money the state collects to help pay for licensing, zoning, law enforcement, and public health concerns.

“We we want to make sure that law enforcement is there to crack down, if you will, on the unlicensed producers and processors, so we need law enforcement and that costs money,” said Holmes.

Holmes offered feedback on the draft rules for implementing Initiative 502. He applauds the state Liquor Control Board for a draft policy that considers license applications of people with marijuana convictions, saying marijuana enforcement has been racially disproportionate.

“It is encouraging to see that the Board is working to undo some of the harm caused by these past discriminatory practices,” wrote Holmes.

He said that there needs to more clarification on how tourists will use marijuana while visiting Seattle.

“We don’t let you drink bourbon walking down the street and we don’t let you smoke marijuana, so what are we going to do about out-of-state tourists and what are we going to do about residents that maybe live in a multi-family unit that has a smoking ban?” asked Holmes.

Mayor Mike McGinn said, “Seattle voters overwhelmingly approved marijuana legalization and we are working hard to implement the public’s direction in our city. The City of Seattle today formally submitted comments to the Liquor Control Board to consider during their rule-making process for I-502 implementation.”

The state issued 46 pages of draft rules last month dealing with licenses, security, advertising, labeling and retail transactions, among other things. Monday was the last day the public could comment on the draft rules.

The board is expected to issue a second and final set of draft rules for comment in the next few weeks.