As the Legislature moves this session to address the unregulated medical-marijuana market, all parties must agree on a common objective: safe, affordable patient access. While stakeholder concerns should be considered, they must be scrutinized and remain secondary to patient interests.

As a Washington State Liquor Control Board member, I have a bias: I believe we have established a tightly regulated system that can provide high-quality, safe medical cannabis for patients, with little risk of youth access or federal intervention. While many in the medical-marijuana industry argue that a separate system could be established to do the same, the need for costly duplication must be proven.

An evaluation would be hard-pressed to show that existing licensees, who have invested in good faith in our system, cannot meet the needs of medical cannabis patients. [Read more at the Seattle Times]