Washington Governor Jay Inslee on Tuesday signed a bill that paves the way for the state to create what is believed to be the first system in the United States to certify marijuana as organic.
The sponsor of the bill, Republican Senator Ann Rivers, said marijuana certified as organically grown is likely to be on sale in Washington in about a year and a half.
"This is consumer-driven," Rivers told Reuters by phone on Tuesday night. "As we have moved forward in the legal marijuana market, we're hearing people say, 'We don't want any pesticides, fungicides, none of that stuff in our weed.'"
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The new law "creates a voluntary program for the certification and regulation of organic marijuana products," to be administered by the Washington agriculture department, according to a state analysis of the new law.