SEATTLE — Washington state has tentatively chosen a Massachusetts-based firm led by a University of California, Los Angeles, professor to be its official marijuana consultant.
Botec Analysis Corp. is based in Cambridge, Mass., and has evaluated government programs and provided consulting relating to drug abuse, crime, and public health.
If the contract stands, Botec will advise Washington state officials as they develop rules for the state’s new industry in legal, taxed marijuana.
Botec is headed by Mark Kleiman, a professor of public policy at UCLA. Kleiman declined to comment Monday afternoon.
Botec, founded in the mid-1980s, has previously performed a variety of work with government agencies.
It studied the results of an effort to crack down on heroin dealers in Lynn, Mass., and in the early 1990s advised the Office of National Drug Control Policy on drug-demand reduction programs.
Kleiman has written several books on drug policy and crime, including ‘‘Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know.’’
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