A number of bills in the Washington Legislature could change the way people buy, sell and grow marijuana, and local retail stores are keeping their eye out to see how they will affect business.

The bills received hearings last week in the House Committee on Commerce and Gaming with a wide range of proposals and opinions. Marijuana became a legal commodity in the state on July 8, 2014, one of few states at that time to legalize the plant for public use. It remains an illegal substance within the federal legal framework.

Bringing marijuana to your door

You could be buying marijuana in your pajamas thanks to a new bill that would allow delivery services straight to your door.

HB 1712 allows licensed marijuana retailers to fulfill orders by phone or online for users age 21 and up. Current law allows marijuana purchases only at brick-and-mortar stores.

According to Myles Kahn, owner of Buddy’s Recreational Marijuana located on 420 Sunset Blvd. N, this bill is a “double-edged” sword given the recent crack down on illegal delivery systems.

“It isn’t essential to the recreational market,” he said. “It could increase sales. A big part of experience in the cannabis culture is the social aspect — coming to the store, interacting and learning about the product… I see a lot of potential problems with it. Could it boost business? I think it might. As a retailer, that’s what I’m looking for. From an industry standpoint, we’ve got to be very cautious right now about the federal scrutiny.”

Kahn said he would implement a delivery system if the bill did pass as it “would be a comparative disadvantage not to” but he doesn’t feel strongly toward it.

“I like customers who come to the store. They like the experience here,” he said.

An opponent said such purchases would compromise customer and employee safety by encouraging transactions in insecure locations.

“So what this bill does is take away the walls, it takes away the witnesses, it takes away the cameras and the security protocols and any sort of alarms,” said John Kingsbury, a member of medical-marijuana advocacy group Patients United. “I have to think that the first kid that gets stabbed, or shot, or beaten, you’re going to feel a little bit responsible for that. If this isn’t a recipe for disaster, I don’t know what is.”

Licensing homegrown pot

Medical marijuana patients looking to grow a cannabis crop at home may receive some help: HB 2021 licenses adult medical marijuana users to grow and possess unlimited marijuana seeds at their residence.

Current law enables medical marijuana patients listed in the state’s medical marijuana authorization database to buy and possess up to six marijuana plants and eight ounces of marijuana produced from those plants. Patients not in the database may grow up to four marijuana plants and possess up to six ounces.

“This bill closes a gap and it’s important that we close this gap, because there are folks who qualify to have marijuana plants, but they don’t have access to them,” said Rep. Jessyn Farrell, D-Seattle.

“This bill is very important because there are a lot of people out there who can no longer get plants because dispensaries closed that used to sell clones and seeds,” medical marijuana patient Laurie Jackson told a House committee.

For Kahn, this bill is a no brainer, especially since it will help medical users access what they need with more ease.

“Even as a retailer, I support that [bill] because it creates a more informed and healthier public. If people want to do that, they should be able to do that. It’s a plant, for God’s sake,” said Kahn.

Protecting hemp growers

The word cannabis brings to mind images of burning joints or smoldering bongs, but the plant has just as much to do with hemp products as it does with marijuana.

Industrial hemp is found in thousands of household products, including paper, textiles and health foods.

Under the federal Uniform Controlled Substances Act of 1970, marijuana is classified as a schedule one substance, or a drug with a high risk of abuse with no accepted medical use.

HB 2064 removes industrial hemp from the state’s schedule of controlled substances.

Federal law defines marijuana as a cannabis strain containing 0.3 percent or more of the psychoactive chemical component THC. Industrial hemp, which is unrelated to drug usage, contains less than 0.3 percent of THC.

In 2016, Washington created an industrial hemp research program under the Department of Agriculture to study the growth, cultivation and marketing of industrial hemp. At least 30 states have industrial hemp research programs, studies or commercial programs.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Matt Shea, R-Spokane, spoke about the importance of removing hemp from the state’s drug schedule to better combat future federal suits against hemp farmers.

“The whole reason that Washington had to adopt a separate controlled substances act was because Washington State has separate jurisdiction from the federal government on this issue,” Shea said. This bill intends to “make it very clear that Washington, right now, is removing hemp from the scheduling act, so it gives us better legal grounds to defend against any sort of federal intrusion later to prosecute people growing hemp here,” he added.

Marijuana activist John Worthington urged the Legislature to remove all varieties of cannabis from the state drug schedule. Ending cannabis’s status as a controlled substance, Worthington argued, would curb the federal government’s ability to seize imports under the federal Interstate Commerce Clause should newly installed U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions decide to further challenge state cannabis laws.

Bailey Hershberg of the state marijuana advocacy group NORML PAC believes encouraging hemp farming in the state could have a positive environmental impact through crop rotation.

Leah Abraham contributed to this report.