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State Liquor Control Board releases first draft of legal pot ground rules

SEATTLE — For months, the Washington State Liquor Control Board has been studying how to mold the recreational marijuana market.

On Thursday afternoon, the board released a first draft of rules and guidelines for the legal pot industry. The rules look at how the state wants businesses to grow and sell marijuana.

The rules outline how pot should be grown and labeled, and how it's tested for quality assurance.

Chris McDonial, the owner of Seattle MMJ Co-Op, is planning to take the state guidelines and expand his medical marijuana dispensary into something bigger.  He wants to open multiple recreational pot stores.

"Grow, produce, process, sell, whatever options they're going to allow us to do,” McDoniel said, “This is what we do."

McDonial even has plans for a mobile marijuana trailer; it will be just like a food truck, only for pot smokers.  He believes recreational marijuana sales will be a safer bet than medical marijuana.

“I think you'll see these nonprofits like me falling by the wayside very quickly,” he said, “We won't be able to compete."

These rules aren't set in stone. The Liquor Control Board is releasing this first draft of guidelines to get input, before formalizing the rules in mid-June.