A House Committee on Thursday approved a technical change to the state’s new law legalizing marijuana that supporters say is necessary to prosecute illegal growers and sellers.

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg told the House Committee on Government Accountability and Oversight that the change is needed to prosecute cases.

“We still need to hold accountable those who sell marijuana to minors and those who act outside of the law. There is nobody in the state crime lab today who can come and testify in a court of law that material meets the definition of marijuana under state law,” Satterberg said.

At issue is the legal definition of “THC concentration” in Initiative 502, which is meant to distinguish marijuana from industrial hemp. The new law defines marijuana as having more than 0.3 percent of delta-9 THC, the content that creates the psychoactive effects of pot. But scientists with the state crime lab said that definition is too narrow and they don’t have the tools to isolate delta-9 THC from the total THC content.

The measure would change the law to define marijuana by the total THC content. When marijuana is burned or cooked into food, THC acid turns into delta-9 THC and the pot becomes fully potent. The worry is when someone is in violation of the new marijuana laws, prosecutors won’t be able to prove in court that the plants seized meet the new definition.

Officials with the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab testified that the state would need to buy new expensive machinery and tests would take longer to complete if the definition remains unchanged.

“That is possible, but it is of considerable expense,” said Vancouver crime lab manager Ingrid Deermore.

The committee passed the measure by a 6-3 vote. Rep. Cary Condotta (R- East Wenatchee) said he needed more information before he could support a change to the initiative, which will require a two-thirds vote in both houses of the Legislature.

“I am getting conflicting reports here. The rest of the world operates in a certain manner. We are moving to that. We are moving to an industrial hemp nation, a legalized marijuana nation and the rest of the world is way ahead of us on that. What there definition of the standards are should work for us. I worried we are becoming an outlier possibly,” Condotta said.

An out-of-state firm called Botec Analysis has won the state’s marijuana consultant contract, the Washington’s Liquor Control Board announced Tuesday.

The Massachusetts-based firm will provide technical expertise as the Liquor Control Board implements Initiative 502, the measure passed by voters in November which legalizes, taxes and regulates marijuana.

More than 100 groups and individuals indicated interest in the consulting role. Botec has a history of working with government agencies on drug policy issues. The firm is led by Mark Kleiman, a public policy professor at UCLA and author of ‘‘Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know.’’

“This team’s lead members and subcontractors are among the world’s leading experts on marijuana and drug policy,” Board Chair Sharon Foster said in a news release.

A Democratic lawmaker is proposing several changes to Initiative 502, the measure passed by voters in November which legalizes, taxes and regulates marijuana.

Rep. Christopher Hurst (D-Enumclaw) says the state should require higher fees for licenses to grow, process and sell marijuana. As I-502 stands, people interested in entering the state’s new recreational marijuana business would have to pay a $250 application fee and a $1,000 annual renewal fee.

The proposal would require a “502 Marketing Certificate” before people could obtain a license. The certificate would be transferable and the price would be determined by the Liquor Control Board.

“We have a billion dollar mandate from the Supreme Court to fund our K-12 system. It would be foolish to leave money on the table in the face of a daunting number like that,” Hurst said in a news release.

The legislation would also ease restrictions on where a marijuana retailer can locate. Under House Bill 2000, a licensee could locate a business closer to parks and schools – 500 feet away instead of 1,000 feet.

Hurst argues the current restrictions may limit access to legitimate licensed retailers, opening the door for an underground marketplace.

“Citizens voted for an end to the dangerous, illicit marijuana market and a new, well-regulated market in its place. The initiative was carefully drafted, but a few changes need to be made to ensure a smooth and successful transition,” Hurst said.

A hearing on the bill is scheduled for March 19 at 1:30 p.m.

Liquor Control Board chair Sharon Foster

Liquor Control Board chair Sharon Foster is at the center of the storm when it comes to implementation of Initiative 502, the state’s new law legalizing the sale and production of recreational marijuana.

Foster, along with board members Ruthann Kuros and Chris Marr, will make the final call on rules and regulations surrounding the new law.

An overflow crowd packed the first public forum on the rules process Tuesday in Olympia (listen to audio from the meeting). Another forum is scheduled for tonight in Seattle.

TVW caught up with Foster on this week to discuss the implementation process:

What exactly is the board’s role in shaping the state’s new rules concerning I-502?
We try to go to as many meetings and open forums and listen to everybody, but ultimately it is the three-member board that will make every single decision on what goes forward.

There was an overflow crowd at your first public meeting  yesterday. What kind of questions and concerns did you hear?
I think there was definitely a concern about the medical marijuana industry and how I-502 will impact that. There will be bills in the legislature this year dealing with medical marijuana. We are not in charge of medical marijuana so we are in a watch mode. There were lots of folks interested in small growers vs. large growers and there were a lot of questions about the banking industry – things we don’t have answers to right now.

These are historic times when it comes to marijuana legalization and Washington will be leading the way. How much pressure is there on the board to get this done right and on time?
I think there is an incredible amount of pressure to do it right. It has never been done anywhere in the world before to the extent that we are doing it. I think if we want any sort of approvals going forward from the federal government, we are going to have to do it with good regulations and controls. Safety has always been paramount in our mission as is having the retail market competitive enough so people don’t go to the black market.

Looking a few years down the road, what does Washington’s cannabis marketplace look like?
I see it looking a lot like how our liquor control board used to look like other than the stores will be owned and operated privately. There won’t be any state employees running those stores. The density problem is something we don’t know yet – what the density is going to be, what the consumption rate is going to be. Anything I would say would be so speculative it would silly to try to answer that. Every time we talked about how much marijuana needs to be out in that open legalized retail market we had people in the audience saying we should take that number and double it. We don’t know whether that’s true or not. That’s one of things we hope to learn when we hire someone who is more of an expert than any of us here combined and that can help us define the best way to grow, what the consumption rate might look like. We are going to depend a lot on that person or that person’s team to help guide us.

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