For immediate release: July 1, 2008 (08-109)

Contacts:
Tim Church, Communications Office 360-236-4077
Donn Moyer, Communications Office 360-236-4076

Medical marijuana: health department files draft rule defining 60-day supply
Public comment period begins; hearing date scheduled

OLYMPIA ¾ The Department of Health today filed draft rules to define a 60-day supply of medical marijuana. The rules set the supply at 24 ounces of usable marijuana, up to six mature plants, and up to 18 immature plants.

The rules were ordered by the 2007 Washington Legislature as part of changes it made to the state’s medical marijuana law. The law is based on a state initiative passed by voters in 1998. It allows the use of marijuana for "terminal or debilitating illnesses" when recommended by a physician. The law includes a limited number of accepted medical conditions.

The law limits patients to a 60-day supply, but does not define supply — leading to confusion among patients, doctors, advocates, and law enforcement. The rules provide specific guidance on how much product and plant material patients are allowed.

The rules aim to set a supply that is practical and realistic for most medical marijuana users in our state. Under the law, physicians may use "medical evidence" to justify recommending less or more marijuana than limits set in the rules. The amounts in these rules were set after the agency reviewed published studies on the medical use of marijuana; took input from patients, advocates, doctors, law enforcement, and the public; and researched the laws and rules of other states that allow the use of medical marijuana.

People can sign-up for e-mail updates (medicalmarijuana@doh.wa.gov) and send written comments by e-mail, or submit written comments (https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/policyreview/) online (starting July 2). A public hearing will be held August 25 in Tumwater to gather more public comment before final rule language is adopted.

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