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Three Years Later, Marijuana Still Trending As Hot Topic In Olympia

A legislative panel in Washington state will consider reducing the tax on recreational marijuana.
Austin Jenkins
/
Northwest News Network
A legislative panel in Washington state will consider reducing the tax on recreational marijuana.

Is the tax on legal marijuana in Washington too high?

A legislative panel will consider a proposal Monday to reduce the tax from 37 percent down to 25 percent. It’s just one of dozens of pot-related proposals under consideration this year.

Three years after Washington launched its experiment with legal recreational marijuana, the work continues to regulate, fine-tune and expand this new marketplace.

Pot-related proposals abound this year in the Washington legislature. From reducing the tax on marijuana to allowing the sale of pot merchandise to piloting a marijuana delivery program in Seattle. And that’s just a sampling.

Last year, the Washington legislature regulated the medical marijuana industry signaling the end of the ubiquitous green cross dispensaries. The legislature also overhauled the tax structure for recreational marijuana, collapsing the previous three-tier system into a single point of sale tax.

In a sign of the times, the legislature also formally changed the name of the Liquor Control Board to the Liquor and Cannabis Board.

Copyright 2016 Northwest News Network

Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy as well as the Washington State legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia." Prior to joining the Northwest News Network, Austin worked as a television reporter in Seattle, Portland and Boise. Austin is a graduate of Garfield High School in Seattle and Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut. Austin’s reporting has been recognized with awards from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors, Public Radio News Directors Incorporated and the Society of Professional Journalists.
Austin Jenkins
Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy, as well as the Washington State Legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia."