PORT TOWNSEND — A trade association formed to represent Jefferson County residents involved in the recreational marijuana business has been sidetracked by the county’s moratorium against such businesses, say members.
“I’m not sure what the benefit of the coalition is right now,” said Marty Gay, owner of Jefferson County Cannabis and a member of the Olympic Peninsula Cannabis Association.
“We barely got started with the discussion of what the organization could be when the moratorium happened, and it dovetailed into ‘how can we do this?’ and we had to get involved in politics,” Gay said.
As the county moratorium edges toward expiration in February, commissioners are considering extending it for four months.
Those who want to establish growing operations say that would be a fatal blow to getting a crop on the market this year.
Others favor extending the moratorium, expressing concern about the impact of marijuana businesses in existing neighborhoods and their specific impact on traffic and children.
Jefferson County initially followed a policy that marijuana should be regulated as any other crop.
Then, commissioners imposed a six-month moratorium after residents protested, saying marijuana businesses could have a deleterious effect on residential neighborhoods.
The initial moratorium expires Feb. 11.
The county Department of Community Development is requesting that it be extended for another four months.
It has brought up two alternatives for county commissioners to consider: extend the moratorium as it is now or extend it with an additional provision of not including parcels of land larger than 5 acres that are designated either rural residential 1:10 or rural residential 1:20.
Either way, it seeks an extension that would keep a moratorium in place into June.
County commissioners will discuss the proposal during the meeting that will begin at 9 a.m. Monday in their chambers at the Jefferson County Courthouse at 1820 Jefferson St. in Port Townsend.
Commissioners are expected to schedule a public hearing on the moratorium at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 26 in their chambers.
The Jefferson County Planning Commission also will consider the issue at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Tri-Area Community Center, 10 West Valley Road in Chimacum.
Elsewhere, the city of Port Townsend in August set zoning conditions for marijuana growing, and Clallam County put a six-month pot moratorium in place in October.
The trade association has about 20 members, 12 of them active, according to Jean Ball, a Chimacum resident who owns proposed grow operation Gnarley Dog Farm.
Big opportunity
Ball sees the farm as a tremendous opportunity.
“Washington grows the best weed on the planet,” she said.
The group is now split between growers like herself who are looking for ways to deal with the moratorium and those like Gay, who is located in a light industrial area and is not directly affected by the county action.
“We thought we would facilitate tourism. We thought we’d facilitate brand development. We would work together with retail stores and make sure that Jefferson County stores got products from Jefferson County growers,” Gay said.
“Right now, I don’t know what it could be, but I still think it’s real important that we work together.”
Said Kyle Craig, a horticulturist: “Lately, our focus has been on the moratorium rather than how do we grow the business in a professional, sustainable way.
Craig believes that marijuana agriculture has more similarities to traditional farming than differences.
“We are obligated by law to collect data about every aspect of our yield and our potency, which gives us the ability to provide a scientific analysis of marijuana production,” he said.
“Marijuana is worth a lot now, but it won’t be worth a lot forever, so right now, we have a unique opportunity to finance research and experimentation in sustainable horticultural technology that is applicable to all fruits and vegetables with similar growing requirements to producing marijuana.”
Initiative 502, which voters approved in 2012 to legalize recreational marijuana for adults, incorporated safety measures such as high fences and buffer zones, which are tailored to indoor growing operations, said Craig, who favors outdoor grows.
While some security is needed, the idea that people will steal the crop is misguided, since a marijuana plant must be processed and refined for use, and most people don’t know how, Craig said.
“People aren’t going to rob from grow operations in the same way they don’t rob brewers or distilleries or tobacco farms,” Craig said.
“They may rob liquor stores or hijack 18-wheelers, but that’s about the money and not the drugs.”
Craig said much of the fear about the marijuana business is because of perceptions of the black market and a misunderstanding of participants in the new legal market.
“We are businesspeople, farmers, scientists, mothers and fathers, and we just want to farm this crop,” he said.
“There is a lot of fear without confirmation. There needs to be an example of a 502 business creating problems with the neighbors or crashing house values before it can be presented as fact.”
Ball said the state, in its complex licensing process, requested financial documents dating back several years as well as information about juvenile arrest records.
“This is the hardest business that I’ve ever started,” agreed Gay, who is chief financial officer of the Quimper Mercantile Co. in Port Townsend.
“You are basically a partner of the government, and if you don’t embrace that early on, you are going to just give yourself ulcers.
“We understand we were given this opportunity and this is how the bill was passed, but it’s got to change,” Gay said.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
