OLYMPIA — The state Department of Health on Friday debuted its new medical marijuana database to give patients the ability to buy marijuana without tax, in larger doses and quantities, and to grow plants at their residence. Eligible patients can now take an authorization form to an endorsed retailer to receive a “recognition” card that unlocks those benefits.
The database is part of sweeping changes made by the Legislature last year to align the recreational and medical markets. Now medical marijuana can be sold inside recreational retail stores for those stores who have a medical endorsement. The law largely did away with the “collective gardens” that provided medical marijuana in the past.
The state Liquor and Cannabis Board provides a map of retailers with the endorsement, as well as a plethora of other data, at www.lcb.wa.gov/marj/dashboard.