The state's medical marijuana database might not be ready by Friday, and that could pose a big problems for patients on the day many of the state's dispensaries will transition to retail operations.

A Tacoma company is in charge of running the database. It’s not yet known what the problem is.

But medical marijuana patients should be allowed to walk into a store such as Urban Bud and use what's called a  medical marijuana recognition card.

That card would allow the cardholder to purchase products without sales tax and buy three times the amount of marijuana that recreational users can buy.

But until the database is up and running, medical marijuana patients won't be able to use their cards anywhere in the state.

Marijuana stores could face some stumbling blocks as the state shifts to a new system for medical marijuana sales. New rules go into effect Friday but the state is warning that a computer system to verify patients may not be ready.

At the Seattle Cannabis Company, workers say they pride themselves on personalized service and expanding their stock to help those with health problems seems like a natural fit. Employees went through extra training to become one of the 321 pot shops in the state that will now offer medical marijuana. 

New rules are supposed to start Friday but there's a lot that hasn't been sorted out and the state is warning its computer system to verify patients may not be ready.

The decision by Washington voters to legalize marijuana as medicine took root in the fall of 1998 — the season when Initiative 692 became law. 

That makes the state’s experiment with legal medical marijuana almost 18 years old, a tumultuous age for humans and, as it turns out, an industry being forced to go legit as the state folds medical pot into the regulated system for recreational marijuana Friday. 

The pot dispensaries and the green crosses that marked many of those stores are going away as the state works to regulate the dispensaries’ share of the market — a market variously described by its detractors as “gray” and having the traits of “the wild West.” 

The THC in the marijuana plant is medicinal and the fibers in hemp can be used in manufacturing. This has led to marijuana being legalized in some states in the US. This includes states like Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska. It is expected that 16 more states will legalize the use of marijuana within the next 5 years. 14 of these states will legalize the use of recreational marijuana and 2 states will legalize medical marijuana. It is projected that by the end of 2019, legal marijuana will bring in a combined income of $ 19 billion in all the states that it has been legalized in.

Nearly two years have passed under the watchful eye of the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) and Washingtonians are enjoying their cannabis more than ever before.

Here are a few figures from our loving overlords at the WSLCB (As of April 4^th):

Science is starting to understand what marijuana smokers have known for years: how marijuana helps sleep. Because of this understanding, doctors are now able to legally prescribe marijuana for sleep disorders in seven states.

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the most active marijuana ingredient that affects sleeping patterns. We’ll look into exactly how marijuana aids sleep, delve into how our brains work, and offer insights on this fascinating subject.

Sleep Disorders and Marijuana

Sleep disorders include:

With 22.2 million Americans reporting they've gotten high within the past month, it's no secret that the U.S. is having an increasingly open love affair with cannabis. But which states are the most open-minded when it comes to cannabis?

Now that Washington state has legalized recreational marijuana, and the market is emerging, policy experts are discussing how best to move forward.

It’s one of the first of its kind: a Washington marijuana policy conference Tuesday at the University of Washington Law School.

Sam Mendez, executive director of the Cannabis Law and Policy Project (CLPP), which is organizing the event, says despite Washington legalizing recreational marijuana in 2014, there are plenty of legal questions left to answer.

“Such as what to do about pesticides now, what about access to youth,” Mendez said. “And a number of other issues that, now that we have at least a state legal system, how do we approach that from a policy perspective to make sure that system works?”

The 2016 NORML Aspen Legal Seminar

I just returned a few days ago from a lovely long weekend in beautiful Aspen, CO, a charming old silver-mining town in the Rocky Mountains with breath-taking views, that serves as a popular playground for skiers in the winter and biking and hiking enthusiasts in the other seasons. And it is the location of an annual NORML legal seminar held each year in early June.

The Seminar Itself

First, for those attorneys who attend this event, it is a truly unique opportunity to hear from some of the most brilliant and creative criminal defense and marijuana business attorneys in the country.

The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board is working to notify marijuana license applicants whose personal information was accidentally distributed by the agency in response to a public records request.

The data may include social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, financial information, tax information and attorney-client privileged information. The LCB had redacted the documents for the records request, but a folder containing the personal information was accidentally included.

The agency confirmed the breach Tuesday and said it was working to notify affected individuals.