Recommendation for Pot Regulation Coming Monday

A state work group will release recommendations for how to regulate Washington's medical marijuana industry.

The recommendations coming Monday could include reductions in how much pot patients can have, an end to the collective gardens that have supplied the sick and the not-so-sick for the past 15 years, stricter requirements for obtaining medical marijuana authorizations and taxes on medical pot.

Voters in Washington and Colorado last fall legalized marijuana for recreational use, and the states are preparing to allow its sale at licensed stores. In Colorado, medical marijuana is already regulated and subject to sales tax.

But in Washington, lawmakers and state officials are concerned licensed pot stores won't be able to compete with medical dispensaries selling unregulated, untaxed marijuana — thus cutting into the amount of tax revenue Washington makes from the sale of recreational pot.