Marijuana Consultant Hired In Washington, Recreational Pot Sales Coming Soon

Washington State hired its first marijuana consultant. An advising team crafted possibly one of the most unique job descriptions in US history before the interview process began. Washington is still in the midst of designing its new recreational marijuana industry.

Voters passed the landmark recreational marijuana amendment last fall. The pot use will be “heavily taxed” and generate revenue for a host of public entities. The Washington Liquor Control Board announced the Massachusetts-based Botec Analysis Corporation the top contender for the marijuana consultant contract.

The Washington marijuana industry team was led by a University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) professor of public policy. The recreational pot exploratory team also includes the former head of the company that is the only licenses medical marijuana supplier in the Netherlands. Rand Corporation researchers who helped devise the guidelines for marijuana growers’ licenses were also involved with the cannabis consultant search.

State board official Randy Simmons had this to say in a release about the establishment of the marijuana industry in Washington:

“These are, by far, the top consultants available. We’re serious about doing this the right way.”

In 2012 both Washington and Colorado became the first states in America to legalize recreational marijuana usage. Even though residents over 21 can now buy an ounce of pot at state-licensed stores, marijuana prohibition still exists at the federal level. Many marijuana legalization advocates point to the failures of the Volstead Act during the 1920s as reason enough to repeal the federal pot law. Alcohol prohibition spawned a host of criminal activity, deaths from non-regulated mixtures of booze, and did little to curb the American appetite for a cold beer.

The Washington Liquor Control Board will establish the regulations for both recreational pot retail stores and growers. The board will determine how much cannabis should be grown, how the pot will be packaged, and the safety testing process for marijuana crops.

The marijuana officials in Washington reportedly want to grow just enough pot to meet demand so prices are not driven up. They cannabis industry team also wants to prevent saturating the market with pot and risk the product being trafficked across state lines.

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