The term "marijuana" is currently used throughout the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) in areas including adult-use cannabis laws, laws addressing the medical use of cannabis, and laws addressing topics like agriculture, crimes, colleges and universities, public records, compacts with federally-recognized Indian tribes, motor vehicles, health care, and taxes.

The Uniform Controlled Substances Act defines "marijuana" as all parts of the plant Cannabis, whether growing or not, with a tetrahydrocannabinol concentration greater than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis; the seeds; the resin extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds or resin.  The term expressly does not include the following: 

• the mature stalks of the plant, fiber produced from the stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the mature stalks—except extracted resin, fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of the plant that is incapable of germination; or
• hemp, industrial hemp, or seeds used for licensed hemp production.

The term marijuana is replaced with the term cannabis throughout the RCW. 

The Liquor and Cannabis Board must use expedited rulemaking to change the terminology in the Washington Administrative Code.

PRO:  There is historic racism associated with the term "marijuana."  While cannabis was not new to the country, news outlets and government officials began linking "marijuana" to immigrants and other working class people, and that is when the fear over "reefer madness" began.  At one time, the director of the federal Bureau of Narcotics said that marijuana is the most violence causing drug in the history of mankind.  This and other statements were attacks on Black and Brown communities, playing a large role in the War on Drugs.  Black Americans were arrested at four times the rate of White Americans.  The term "marijuana" is a reminder of racism and persecution.  Changing the term can provide respect to all Washingtonians.  LCB requested the requirement for expedited rulemaking in the bill to ensure rules can be adopted quickly to change the terminology in the Washington Administrative Code.  The word "marijuana" is purposefully chosen to represent communities of color and is extremely oppressive.  This bill is a great first step to correcting these wrongs.

CON:  The biggest injustice is having marijuana on the same drug schedule as heroin and that is what we need to address.  While there are racial problems, the bad policy remains whether the term is "cannabis" or "marijuana."