"Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man."

State Agreement to Enforce Federal Drug Laws - 2005

Attorney General of Washington - December 30, 2008 - Letter to Carl Olsen

Repeals by implication are ordinarily not favored in law, and a later act will not operate to repeal an earlier act except in such instances where the later act covers the entire subject matter of the earlier legislation, is complete in itself, and is evidently intended to supersede the prior legislation on the subject, or unless the two acts are so clearly inconsistent with, and repugnant to, each other that they cannot, by a fair and reasonable construction, be reconciled and both given effect. Abel v. Diking, 19 Wn.2d 356, 363, 142 P.2d 1017, 1020 (Wash. 1943).

No one has asked the pharmacy board to revisit the classification, and it has apparently not seen fit to do so. RCW 69.50.204(c)(14). State v. Hanson, 138 Wn. App. 322, 330, 157 P.3d 438, 442 (Wash. App. Div. 3, 2007).

We do not read the Medical Marijuana Act and the Uniform Controlled Substances Act as inconsistent. Indeed, the Medical Marijuana Act never addresses whether marijuana has a currently accepted medical use. It only states that some patients may benefit from medical marijuana. RCW 69.51A.005. State v. Hanson, 138 Wn. App. 322, 331, 157 P.3d 438, 442 (Wash. App. Div. 3, 2007).

The state of Washington classifies marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance having no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.  By failing to reclassify marijuana as having accepted medical use in the state of Washington, the state of Washington has left it's patients vulnerable to federal law enforcement which also classifies marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance having no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.  The problem is that federal law does not contain a medical exception.  It defies imagination that the Washington Medical Marijuana Act was intended to allow federal prosecution of the very same people it was intended to protect. Agreeing with the federal government that marijuana has no accepted medical use is like saying the Washington medical marijuana law has no teeth. Shame on Washington for victimizing its citizens this way. -- Carl Olsen

RCW 69.50.201
Enforcement of chapter — Authority to change schedules of controlled substances.

  • (a) The state board of pharmacy shall enforce this chapter and may add substances to or delete or reschedule substances listed in RCW 69.50.204, 69.50.206, 69.50.208, 69.50.210, or 69.50.212 pursuant to the procedures of chapter 34.05 RCW.
    • (1) In making a determination regarding a substance, the board shall consider the following:
      • (i) the actual or relative potential for abuse;
      • (ii) the scientific evidence of its pharmacological effect, if known;
      • (iii) the state of current scientific knowledge regarding the substance;
      • (iv) the history and current pattern of abuse;
      • (v) the scope, duration, and significance of abuse;
      • (vi) the risk to the public health;
      • (vii) the potential of the substance to produce psychic or physiological dependence liability; and
      • (viii) whether the substance is an immediate precursor of a controlled substance.
    • (2) The board may consider findings of the federal Food and Drug Administration or the Drug Enforcement Administration as prima facie evidence relating to one or more of the determinative factors.
  • (b) After considering the factors enumerated in subsection (a) of this section, the board shall make findings with respect thereto and adopt and cause to be published a rule controlling the substance upon finding the substance has a potential for abuse.
  • (c) The board, without regard to the findings required by subsection (a) of this section or RCW 69.50.203, 69.50.205, 69.50.207, 69.50.209, and 69.50.211 or the procedures prescribed by subsections (a) and (b) of this section, may place an immediate precursor in the same schedule in which the controlled substance of which it is an immediate precursor is placed or in any other schedule. If the board designates a substance as an immediate precursor, substances that are precursors of the controlled precursor are not subject to control solely because they are precursors of the controlled precursor.
  • (d) If a substance is designated, rescheduled, or deleted as a controlled substance under federal law, the board shall similarly control the substance under this chapter after the expiration of thirty days from the date of publication in the federal register of a final order designating the substance as a controlled substance or rescheduling or deleting the substance or from the date of issuance of an order of temporary scheduling under Section 508 of the federal Dangerous Drug Diversion Control Act of 1984, 21 U.S.C. Sec. 811(h), unless within that thirty-day period, the board or an interested party objects to inclusion, rescheduling, temporary scheduling, or deletion. If no objection is made, the board shall adopt and cause to be published, without the necessity of making determinations or findings as required by subsection (a) of this section or RCW 69.50.203, 69.50.205, 69.50.207, 69.50.209, and 69.50.211, a final rule, for which notice of proposed rule making is omitted, designating, rescheduling, temporarily scheduling, or deleting the substance. If an objection is made, the board shall make a determination with respect to the designation, rescheduling, or deletion of the substance as provided by subsection (a) of this section. Upon receipt of an objection to inclusion, rescheduling, or deletion under this chapter by the board, the board shall publish notice of the receipt of the objection, and control under this chapter is stayed until the board adopts a rule as provided by subsection (a) of this section.
  • (e) The board, by rule and without regard to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, may schedule a substance in Schedule I regardless of whether the substance is substantially similar to a controlled substance in Schedule I or II if the board finds that scheduling of the substance on an emergency basis is necessary to avoid an imminent hazard to the public safety and the substance is not included in any other schedule or no exemption or approval is in effect for the substance under Section 505 of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. Sec. 355. Upon receipt of notice under RCW 69.50.214, the board shall initiate scheduling of the controlled substance analog on an emergency basis pursuant to this subsection. The scheduling of a substance under this subsection expires one year after the adoption of the scheduling rule. With respect to the finding of an imminent hazard to the public safety, the board shall consider whether the substance has been scheduled on a temporary basis under federal law or factors set forth in subsection (a)(1)(iv), (v), and (vi) of this section, and may also consider clandestine importation, manufacture, or distribution, and, if available, information concerning the other factors set forth in subsection (a)(1) of this section. A rule may not be adopted under this subsection until the board initiates a rule-making proceeding under subsection (a) of this section with respect to the substance. A rule adopted under this subsection must be vacated upon the conclusion of the rule-making proceeding initiated under subsection (a) of this section with respect to the substance.
  • (g) [(f)] Authority to control under this section does not extend to distilled spirits, wine, malt beverages, or tobacco as those terms are defined or used in Titles 66 and 26 RCW.

RCW 69.50.203
Schedule I tests.

  • (a) The state board of pharmacy shall place a substance in Schedule I upon finding that the substance:
    • (1) has high potential for abuse;
    • (2) has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States; and
    • (3) lacks accepted safety for use in treatment under medical supervision.
  • (b) The board may place a substance in Schedule I without making the findings required by subsection (a) of this section if the substance is controlled under Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act by a federal agency as the result of an international treaty, convention, or protocol.

RCW 69.50.204
Schedule I.

  • Unless specifically excepted by state or federal law or regulation or more specifically included in another schedule, the following controlled substances are listed in Schedule I:
    • * * *
    • (c) Hallucinogenic substances. Unless specifically excepted or unless listed in another schedule, any material, compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity of the following hallucinogenic substances, including their salts, isomers, and salts of isomers whenever the existence of those salts, isomers, and salts of isomers is possible within the specific chemical designation.
      • * * *
      • (14) Marihuana or marijuana;

RCW 69.50.213
Republishing of schedules.

  • The state board of pharmacy shall publish updated schedules annually. Failure to publish updated schedules is not a defense in any administrative or judicial proceeding under this chapter.