Update 3 (April 29)
After passing the medical marijuana bill (SB 5073)on April 21, the Washington State Legislature was countered with a veto of portions of the bill by Gov. Gregoire on April 29.

In a press release issued on April 29 the Governor said "the sections in Part VI, Part VII, and Part VIII of Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5073 would direct employees of the state departments of Health and Agriculture to authorize and license commercial businesses that produce, process or dispense cannabis. These sections would open public employees to federal prosecution, and the United States Attorneys have made it clear that state law would not provide these individuals safe harbor from federal prosecution. No state employee should be required to violate federal criminal law in order to fulfill duties under state law."

Gov. Gregoire's press release is attached to this story (link is above, next to "Update 3") in its entirety.

In all, the Governor vetoed 36 sections of the bill mostly relating to her concern over state employees authorizing commercial businesses.

Other areas vetoed by the governor included:

Section 410 which "would require owners of housing to allow the use of medical cannabis on their property, putting them in potential conflict with federal law."

Section 407 which "would permit a nonresident to engage in the medical use of cannabis using documentation or authorization issued under other state or territorial laws. This section would not require these other state or territorial laws to meet the same standards for health care professional authorization as required by Washington law."

Section 411 which "would provide that a court may permit the medical use of cannabis by an offender,
and exclude it as a ground for finding that the offender has violated the conditions or requirements of the sentence, deferred prosecution, stipulated order of continuance, deterred disposition or dispositional order. The correction agency or department responsible for the person’s supervision is in the best position to evaluate an individual’s circumstances and medical use of cannabis."

Gregoire accepted parts of the bill that allow "Qualifying patients or their designated providers (to) grow cannabis for the patient’s use or participate in a collective garden without fear of state law criminal prosecutions. Qualifying patients or their designated providers are also protected from certain state civil law consequences."

For now, medical marijuana dispensaries continue to open in West Seattle and White Center with an uncertain legal status, further exacerbated by news that the DEA raided at least two dispensaries in Spokane on April 28.

Shortly after the Governor's announcement, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn issued a press release saying:

“Today the Governor vetoed the heart of the medical marijuana bill. This bill would have provided us with a much needed comprehensive state framework regulating the production, processing, and distribution of medical marijuana. Today’s actions leave us with the same problems that we currently face: too many patients have to take unnecessary risks to obtain their medicine, confusion for law enforcement, a proliferation of dispensaries across Seattle, and an inability to regulate dispensaries properly.

I am grateful for the Legislature’s hard work on this bill and I admire their leadership on this issue. They passed the most comprehensive state medical marijuana system in the country. In particular, I would like to thank Senators Kohl-Welles and Delvin, and Representative Cody for all of their work on this important legislation.

I hope that we can work together during the special session to find a path forward that protects legitimate patients’ access to medical marijuana and also protects our communities.”

Gov. Gregoire's prepared remarks from her speech on the veto can be found here.

Update 2
The Washington State Legislature passed the medical marijuana bill on April 21, followed by this press release:

Mayor Mike McGinn, the Seattle City Council and Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes released the following joint statement today upon passage of SB 5073:

"We would like to extend our greatest appreciation to the Washington State Legislature for passing today SB 5073. The bill would provide a comprehensive regulatory framework for medical marijuana use. This bill spells out precisely how dispensaries and production facilities can operate in a way that provides legitimate patients with medical marijuana, gives local governments the tools we need to help protect the health and safety of our communities, and provides much-needed clarity for law enforcement.

"In particular, we would like to thank Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles for all of her hard work and leadership on this bill, and Rep. Eileen Cody for shepherding the bill through the State House.

"We encourage Governor Gregoire to sign the bill, and look forward to working with her and her staff in the coming days."

Original preview story

Although the GAME Collective lounge on the corner of 16th Ave s.w. and s.w. 98th St in White Center isn’t scheduled to officially open until May 1, medical marijuana patients were invited to a celebration that kicked off at 4:20 p.m. on April 20.

The GAME Collective in White Center is a first for Washington State in that it is built around the idea of people coming there, "donating for their medicine" and spending time in a bar-type atmosphere sans the alcohol. It is a business model that emulates the pot bars found in the Netherlands.

Owner Brionne Corbray said the party would run until 11 p.m. and include a DJ, live jazz bands, blunt (marijuana rolled inside a tobacco leaf) rolling contests and smoking apparatus giveaways.

Corbray said "4/20" signifies "the celebration of a movement." April 20 is celebrated by many marijuana enthusiasts across the world as an unofficial holiday.

Update 1 - Full story

16th Ave s.w. in White Center is about to get a whole lot greener.

As April turns to May White Center will have two new medical marijuana operations opening about a half block from each other on 16th Ave s.w. south of Roxbury

One, the GAME Collective, will make Washington history as the first (according to owner Brionne Corbray) to step out of the traditional dispensary mold. It will be a medical marijuana lounge, Corbray said, where patients are invited to come in and enjoy a café/bar/diner type atmosphere with live jazz several nights a week. Instead of stopping in to pick up medicine and leave, patients are encouraged to stay for a while and smoke/eat their medicine there.

The other, Herbin Legends, will fall in line with existing King County dispensaries in its operation, according to owner Chris Cody.

Opening up shop in a murky political arena

With Senate Bill 5073 working its way through the house and Gov. Chris Gregoire’s threat to veto the bill based on its call for a dispensary licensing system (she has said having state workers implementing the system would expose them to federal prosecution), GAME Collective and Herbin Legends are opening up in a legal environment that is unclear.

The bill is going through a flurry of revisions, and you can follow the most recent changes here.

“Well, I want her to veto it,” Corbray said of the bill. “They snuck things into that bill … I just don’t agree with and I think she’s a good Governor to back us because she’s on our side.”

Corbray didn’t wish to expand on the particulars of the bill he doesn’t agree with, but said he is fine with the possibility of putting a cap on the number of dispensaries per county.

“I understand what she is doing,” Cody said of Gov. Gregoire’s veto threat. “The reality is even as the law is now dispensaries are in a legal gray area, but they exist and they are still technically legal so I’m moving forward either way.”

After the GAME Collective dispensary in West Seattle was robbed on March 19, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg issued a press release that said “"We are very lucky that this armed takeover robbery did not result in death or injury, but it highlights the urgent need for legislative policy makers to establish clear guidelines for the medical use of cannabis. In my view, if cannabis dispensaries are to be permitted, they should operate with strict requirements of security to protect their customers, and outside of residential areas to protect our neighborhoods. The present proliferation of dispensaries throughout the community will continue to invite criminal violence.”

GAME Collective White Center – a Washington first

After a long history of failed bars making a run at 9801 16th Ave s.w., there is a new concept coming to the space.

““It’s like a bar without the alcohol,” owner Brionne Corbray said. “If you come in and you want to buy a little something we’ll have little bongs and pipes that you can use and you can just chill, enjoy yourself and relax. If you don’t want to rush home or you want to meet somebody here, it’s a hang out.”

That is Corbray’s definition of the lounge he is opening May 1 in White Center, where patients will have to display their medical marijuana card at the front door, under the watchful eye of an armed guard, to gain entry to Washington’s first café-style cannabis business (there is a similar setup in Portland called the Cannabis Cafe).

It will be called the GAME Collective, sharing its name with Corbray’s three dispensaries in Seattle, one on California Ave s.w. in West Seattle.

Patients can still belly up to the bar inside, but ordering up a cold one will be replaced by a sticky green one and Corbray has kept the bar blueprint intact, with booths, tables and a stage for live music.

There is a fully functioning kitchen that will have a different THC (the active ingredient in cannabis)-infused meal offered each day. There will be medicinal ice cream (made for Corbray by the Husky Deli in West Seattle), milkshakes, teas and other drinks – but no alcohol is allowed.

Corbray said patients cannot bring in their own marijuana and will “donate” money for their medicine.

The weekly schedule is live music (he has two jazz bands lined up) Thursday through Saturday night and a farmer’s market on Sundays.

The farmer’s market “is where suppliers come in and they bring their goods in and people with cards can come in and make donations for supplies at a little bit cheaper cost,” Corbray said.

As for how Corbray’s White Center business departs from his dispensaries in Seattle, he said: “How this differs is it allows the patients to come in and relax. It’s also a place where they come and market and conversate with each other.”

“It’s the social network for people with medical marijuana cards.”

Corbray is moving along at a rapid rate these days, saying he has plans to open another dispensary in east Seattle and one to the far east in Pasco.

Herbin Legends opening up just down the road

On May 4 Chris Cody will open Herbin Legends, a medical marijuana dispensary just up the road at 9619 16th s.w. from GAME in the old EZ Aquarium space.

Herbin Legends will be a dispensary similar to may others in King County where patients come in, show their card, purchase their medicine and move along with their day – much like a normal pharmacy.

Cody, who is a contractor and carpenter dealing with a slowed economy and fewer jobs to be had, took a trip to Colorado last year and took in their medical marijuana scene.

“I saw what they were doing and it just kind of blew me away,” he said.

He took a trip down to California next and learned about their system, then talked to a lawyer and made the decision to open up in King County.

Cody said Herbin Legends will have a three-section layout with a front security area where patients show their card to an employee who verifies the doctor’s credentials.

Next, patients will walk into a comfortable waiting area with couches, chairs and TVs.

“Anybody who is in pain or anything, I want it to be easy for them to be in here,” he said.

The rear section will be the actual dispensary, taking one patient at a time.

There will be no smoking throughout Herbin Legends, Cody said.

Making a move towards quality control of the medicine he will offer, Cody is heading back to California to get trained on using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry machine.

According to an Oregon State University website, “the GCMS instrument is made up of two parts. The gas chromatography (GC) portion separates the chemical mixture into pulses of pure chemicals and the mass spectrometer (MS) identifies and quantifies the chemicals." This means Cody will be able to test growers medicine for potency and chemical makeup.

Cody said he has spoken with other business owners in the area and understands their concerns over security, but said he plans to make Herbin Legends as secure as possible and will keep a low profile with a sign proclaiming only the address: 9619 16th Ave s.w.

Full Tilt’s take

Justin Cline, the owner of Full Tilt Ice Cream at 9629 16th Ave s.w., is sandwiched between the new businesses coming to town. His take:

“I think it will be much safer in the long run than someone that’s going to open another dive bar. At the end of the day I don’t think it’s going to ruin the neighborhood … I’m sure glad to have that dispensary versus the bars that have been there in the past (at the GAME Collective location).

“I think prohibition on marijuana is asinine,” Cline said. “I guess my only concern would be security because the federal government has created such a black market with marijuana because gangs are involved, and until they get the gangs uninvolved they’re (dispensaries) going to get robbed.”

“But pharmacies get robbed too.”

To read more on the neighbors’ perspective, please check out the Herald article Medical marijuana businesses top the agenda at White Center mixer.