Open Container Law for Weed Passes In Washington

WA open container law
Washington just passed a new open container law

Washington Passes Open Container Law for Weed

It just got more difficult to be a stoner in Washington. The state with the most restrictive recreational weed laws just decided to enact an open container law that will certainly make riding dirty a whole lot more difficult than it has been since voters in the state legalized weed.

The new state law, House Bill 1276, updates Washington’s open container laws for vehicles to include marijuana. Now the law stipulates that marijuana, like alcohol, must be kept in the trunk of a vehicle, in an unopened container, or in another part of the passenger cabin “not normally occupied or directly accessible by” the driver or passengers, reports Newsweek.

The new law, signed by Governor Jay Inslee on June 30, will take effect September 26. Which according to the Seattle Times means loose joints, open bags of bud or partially consumed packages of pot-infused edibles must be kept in a vehicle’s trunk or behind its rearmost row of seats. They also report that House Bill 1276 also makes several changes to the state’s impaired driving statutes. It restores the state Department of Licensing’s ability to automatically suspend a person’s driver’s license if a blood test shows he or she is legally impaired by marijuana.

Marijuana is legal to posses and consume in Washington, but not legal to grow. Add to that the fact that the state passed a new law with some very unclear conditions (what exactly is an unopened container—a jar with a lid, or a jar with a lid covered in plastic-wrap?) and the state has the worst recreational marijuana model. Hopefully California, and its leading reform group ReformCA, won’t make the same mistakes when it comes to legalizing pot in 2016.

Do you think that Washington has the worst recreational marijuana laws in the country? Let us know in the comments below…



2 Responses to “Open Container Law for Weed Passes In Washington”

  1. mat

    My question is, how does a blood test prove impairment? It doesn’t, it’s a relative scale. What one person has for thc in their system vs another has nothing to do with how impaired a person is. They should really fix that before everyday smokers start losing things because of how much weed we always have in our systems.

  2. konaohana

    The Open container law in Washington is absurd. Testing anyone for cannabis is NO valid method of establishing one’s level of equity or physical impairment. It’s not like alcohol that flushes out in hours. The residual of cannabis is detected for weeks. You folks need people fighting for maintaining the freedom. You ALL voted for.

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