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 Washington state and Colorado voted to legalize the recreational
use of marijuana in 2012 even as pot remains illegal under federal
law, and Washington plans to begin licensing retail pot stores in
June. Colorado's first recreational pot stores opened last month.
The state had initially set no limits on the number of pot producers
it would license and allowed individuals to apply for up to three
licenses, each of up to 30,000 square feet in size.
Under the revised rules, each applicant will be allowed only a
single license and will be permitted to grow on 70 percent of the
initial maximum plot size. Regulators hope the changes will reduce
the projected footprint of pot plantations statewide by two-thirds,
to under 300 acres, said Randy Simmons, deputy director of the
state's Liquor Control Board.
"Some of this will be self-correcting as operators fall out," said
Simmons, whose Liquor Control Board has been tasked with regulating
the state's marijuana industry.
Critics contend that the move is unfair to prospective growers, many
of whom have signed leases based on the initial rules.
"It's coming too late in the game," said Hilary Bricken, a
Seattle-based marijuana business lawyer. "Many growers made
decisions on properties six to nine months ago and are now going to
pay the price."
State regulators have received about 2,200 license applications to
grow marijuana, out of about 7,000 pot business applications
overall, according to the board.
The board plans to issue licenses to an initial batch of roughly 20
growers early next month and will continue to approve growing and
processing licenses as it goes through applications over the next
several months, Simmons said.
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Thus far, about a quarter of all reviewed pot license applications
have been disqualified, mostly for proximity to areas where children
congregate or for a failure to list valid in-state financiers,
Simmons said. The disqualification rate is expected to climb to 30
percent of all applications, he said.
Also on Tuesday, the board said it will issue licenses to pot
businesses even in areas where local bans or moratoriums are in
place. Bans have been enacted in a handful of cities, including
Yakima and Wenatchee in central Washington state and in
unincorporated areas of Pierce County, south of Seattle.
Last month, Washington state Attorney General Robert Ferguson issued
an opinion confirming the right of local governments to ban pot
businesses, disappointing both state regulators and crafters of the
voter-approved initiative creating the state's pot law.
Pot business hopefuls in areas with local restrictions will also be
given the option of withdrawing their license applications for a
refund, Simmons said.
(Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Cynthia Osterman)
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