Washington Residents Smoke Way More Weed Than Officials Thought

Wahiker

Well-Known Member
The Tribes pay less in taxes, giving them a potentially huge business advantage, right? So, it's about time they got this going! Done right, I would expect this to be a big tribal money-maker!
 

CarolKing

Singer of songs and a vapor connoisseur
I know there is the Squaxin Native American Tribe that sells cannabis by Shelton WA and the Suquamish Tribe which is by Poulsbo WA. They are making a ton off the casinos. I say go for it.
 

CarolKing

Singer of songs and a vapor connoisseur
Be careful if your favorite producer has to stop producing because of high taxes. It sounds like he stopped responding from the state. So they took matters into their own hands.

Pioneering recreational pot grow shut down by state
Andrew Binion , Kitsap Sun Published 5:54 p.m. PT Feb. 10, 2017 | Updated 6:13 p.m. PT Feb. 10, 2017
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BREMERTON — Kitsap’s first marijuana business – the second licensed in Washington state – was shut down Thursday by regulators who alleged the recreational pot grow operation in West Bremerton had repeatedly failed to pay its taxes.

Agents with the state Liquor and Cannabis Board seized about 2,000 plants and clones from Nine Point Growth Industries, which produced and processed marijuana at a facility on the 1700 block of Third Avenue West starting in September 2014.

It is the first time the state has seized and destroyed all the plants from a licensed producer for the producer's failure to comply with regulations, said Brian Smith, spokesman for the board.

Although in the past Nine Point had been in arrears up to $85,000, at the time it was shut down it owed $29,000, Smith said.

A message left Friday with owner Gregory Stewart was not immediately returned.

“He would pay and stop, pay and stop,” Smith said, noting that the company failed to respond to a Jan. 5 deadline to request a hearing on the closure. “He was offered up an opportunity for a hearing that he didn’t take.”


Before the closure and seizure Thursday, the company was notified in a Feb 1 letter it could destroy or sell off its stock, but apparently did not.

The company was on the forefront of applicants in the state's fledgling legal marijuana industry, having completed its required application successfully while others needed additional time. Stewart told the Kitsap Sun before its first sale that the company would be ready to sell to retailers as soon as the storefront businesses acquired their licenses.

“We feel like we’re in a really good position,” Stewart told the Kitsap Sun.

Despite being the second business in the state to acquire a license, the business struggled to pay taxes due, according to documents provided by the board.

In April 2016, the board approved a “global settlement agreement” to resolve three violation notices. Nine Points had been dinged by the board eight times, including five notices for failing to submit monthly tax reports and payments, according to documents.

Records show that from September 2014 through the end of January, Nine Point Growth Industries sold $953,000 worth of product, and owed almost $112,000 in taxes, though starting in the summer of 2015 taxes were terminated on producer businesses such as Nine Point. Instead, lawmakers shifted the tax burden to retail outlets.

The story behind the failure of Kitsap's first licensed marijuana grow - Kitsap Sun
Kitsap Sun › news › local › 2017/02/17
Feb 17, 2017 - His business became the first licensed marijuana producer in the state to have its plants seized ... Several growers contacted by the Kitsap Sun this week for input did not respond or declined to comment.
 

CarolKing

Singer of songs and a vapor connoisseur
FYI

WSU researchers need volunteers to smoke marijuna for study

Staff , KREM 11:52 AM. PDT May 23, 2017
(509)-432-1943 or by email at nathan_weller@hotmail.com

WASHINGTON
Volunteers needed to smoke pot for science


UPDATED: Fri., May 19, 2017, 7:51 p.m.

Jerome Waite, known by his spiritual name Rasfia, smokes a marijuana cigarette, during a rally to support the legalization of marijuana on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, April 24, 2017. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press)
By Taylor NadauldMoscow-Pullman Daily News

Researchers at Washington State University need volunteers for a study to develop a breathalyzer for pot.

The breathalyzer would need to accurately detect “acute exposure” to tetrahydrocannabinol, WSU Professor Emeritus Nicholas Lovrich, doctoral candidate Peyton Nosbusch and City Councilor and research assistant Nathan Weller told the Pullman League of Women Voters on Thursday afternoon.

As part of the study, volunteers will be asked to answer questions regarding food, drink and other edibles they have recently consumed before being asked to give preliminary blood, breath and oral fluid samples at Pullman Regional Hospital, Lovrich told the League during a Brown Bag meeting at the Community Congregational United Church of Christ.

Participants will then be asked to purchase marijuana from a state-licensed retail store and smoke it in a private residence until a personal self-assessed high is reached. They will then return to the hospital by taxi to give additional samples.

The marijuana will never come onto the WSU campus, and researchers will not have direct contact with it, said Peyton Nosbusch, a chemistry graduate student and one of the researchers in the study, in an email.

As an optional step, participants will also be asked to interact with law enforcement volunteers and allow them to conduct the standard field sobriety test.

All volunteers must be Pullman residents and be 21 years of age or older. All identifying information will be kept confidential, wrote Nosbusch.

If successful, the study could aid in the development of a field procedure for the detection of the presence of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, and eventually help prevent vehicle accidents or deaths due to drug-impaired driving.

Lovrich discussed a THC detection device with the League back in December 2015 with then-doctoral candidate Jessica Tufariello.

He and Herbert H. Hill, a WSU professor and longtime ion researcher, have been researching development of a detector since 2010, Lovrich said.

At the time, he said, the number of arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol in Washington had been decreasing steadily, though cases of driving under the influence of illicit drugs had increased.

If the breathalyzer – ion mobility spectrometer – used to collect breath samples is proven to be reliable in detecting THC during the experiment, Lovrich said that information could then be passed on either to the company that makes the breathalyzer or to another company to re-engineer the device to become smaller and more durable. Lovrich said WSU would benefit financially by patent rights and associated royalties and use fees.

If the research is positive, and police worldwide start using the WSU patented device, Lovrich said, then the WSU administration will say, “Wow, that’s a pretty good investment. Maybe we should keep investing in medicines and then tools that people need for workplace and school and roadside safety.”

The study is sponsored by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services and will be conducted in conjunction with the Pullman Police Department.

Volunteers will be paid $30 an hour for the first hour and $10 for every additional hour of participation.

To date, 29 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation legalizing for medical marijuana usage. Eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana.

Lovrich acknowledged possible obstacles from the new presidential administration, specifically Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has talked about cracking down on states that have passed legalizing legislation.
 

macbill

Oh No! Mr macbill!!
Staff member

CarolKing

Singer of songs and a vapor connoisseur
Smelly pot farms may be policed by clean air regulators

UPDATED: Wed., Nov. 1, 2017, 9:02 a.m.

FILE - Patrick Bang, co-owner of Bang’s Cannabis Company smells the bud of a maturing organically-grown marijuana plant at a rural farm west of Spokane in December 2016. The Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency is pondering new rules that would require both indoor and outdoor marijuana growers to register with them, in order to ensure compliance with regulations governing odor pollution. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)

People growing and packaging marijuana in Spokane County will have to register with the agency policing air pollution under new rules being proposed by regulators.

The Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency, responsible for local enforcement of state and federal pollution laws, said the rules are in response to a proliferation of odor complaints occurring since commercial production became legal three years ago. But those in the business worry the regulations and associated fees could continue to smother a young industry.

“We are the premier outdoor grow location in the state,” said Julie Oliver, executive director of the agency. “We have significantly more odor complaints.”

The agency reports 489 odor complaints since July 2014, when state laws began permitting the growing and sale of marijuana for recreational use. That’s compared to the 178 odor complaints for the three years prior to legalization. The jump is enough to show the effort is not simply being driven by those who morally object to marijuana, said Kevin Freeman, mayor of Millwood and a board member of the clean air agency.

“What has driven this is, we’ve had enough complaints from a variety of different sources,” he said.

The rules, which include a fee structure requiring businesses to pay the agency based on the size of the operation, were developed after a year of consultation with an advisory group that included marijuana farmers. Those industry voices on the panel said they were still concerned about the additional rules and costs the agency was imposing.

“This just seems like an example of the significant amount of over-regulation that our businesses are seeing,” said Crystal Oliver, a farmer with Washington’s Finest Cannabis, an outdoor grow located north of Spokane, and a member of several pro-marijuana business advocacy groups.

“We kind of get hit from all over the place,” said Joe Edwards, who operates the indoor growing operation Root Down in an industrial area west of town. “It seems like everybody is trying to get a little piece of what we’re doing.”

The rules are different for indoor and outdoor operations, as are the associated fees. All businesses would have to send registration information to the clean air agency and would be subject to random inspections for compliance with plans to reduce wafting scents from crossing property lines. The rules do not lay out in detail what a business needs to do to reduce fumes, but it must stay in compliance with agency rules that prevent the emission of an odor “distinct and definite, any unpleasant characteristics recognizable.”

Under current rules, marijuana growers and processors are required to file paperwork with the agency only if they bought and installed certain equipment, including boilers or generators, that could produce emissions in the process of cultivating marijuana or preparing it for sale as an extract.

Crystal Oliver said the proposed fees, which would range annually from $528 for small-scale, indoor grows up to nearly $5,000 for large-scale outdoor operations using hoop houses rather than enclosed structures such as greenhouses for growing, present significant hurdles.

“A lot of people want a piece of the revenue,” she said. “They think the farmers have a lot of money. We don’t have a lot of money.”

The bigger fees for outdoor farms reflect the additional potential risks of odor pollution for open-air facilities, said Freeman. But Crystal Oliver said the fee structure could be seen as discriminatory to outdoor farmers, who she said operate in a more environmentally responsible way than indoor operations because of the need for artificial light and the creation of more waste products, including soil and fertilizer.

“The reality (is) that we should be able to cultivate this plant outdoors,” she said.

Spokane County commissioners instituted a temporary ban late last year on new outdoor marijuana farms, citing the increasing number of complaints to the clean air agency. That ban was replaced by a permitting process earlier this year that is more restrictive than the zoning rules the county had in place before the ban.
 

C No Ego

Well-Known Member
@CarolKing It would be so Awesome to have Pot smells in the air here in NC rather than Pig Shit Air... Pig Shit Air makes everything stink! people who breathe it have Pig Shit Breath and they stink too

Plus= the Odor is the Medicine in cannabis! they are terpenes and baby Skunks in there :)

Washington needs to contact the electric supplier and tell them we need to grow outdoors and not use so much electricity... there is the clean air monitors but what about the electricity monitors, they need to go Green literally and rule over the Nosey ones... so electrical committee against the Nosy committee= it is On
 
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macbill

Oh No! Mr macbill!!
Staff member

CarolKing

Singer of songs and a vapor connoisseur
I would love to see a Farmers Market type thing again. Like in the good ole days, pre legal weed - when we just had medical cannabis. Everything has been so restricted about the store and the set up the last few years. Its so sterile and everything is packaged up. It’s rediculious how the windows are all mirrored so nobody can see in - oooohhh. Like it’s something bad, like an x rated movie theater.

The stigma about weed is still sadly there even now, here in WA state. It’s nice that we have such a great selection. I just wish edibles weren’t so expensive.

I would love to see drive thru stores around the state. Let’s hope they start a trend. Many stores are doing online shopping then you go in and pick up your merchandise.
 
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macbill

Oh No! Mr macbill!!
Staff member
Candy crushed: Washington regulators crack down on marijuana sweets they say are too appealing to kids
The Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board announced at its regular board meeting last week that it would re-evaluate edible products that had previously been approved for sale, over concerns products had begun appearing on shelves that were overly enticing to kids. State regulators are calling for marijuana processors to cease the manufacture of hard and “gummy” candies, including fruit chews, as they likely won’t be allowed when new enforcement takes effect Jan. 1.
 
macbill,

macbill

Oh No! Mr macbill!!
Staff member
Washington cannabis regulator approves new marijuana candy regulations
Good news [URL='https://www.seattlepi.com/seattlenews/article/New-labels-coming-to-marijuana-edibles-10931945.php']edible fans: Washington state will not ban pot-infused candies and gummies after all. But there will be some changes coming to the treats.

The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board finalized a policy on Wednesday which limits the colors and shapes that edibles can have, but doesn't forbid pot-infused candies, like an earlier policy did.
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macbill,

CarolKing

Singer of songs and a vapor connoisseur
I saw that someone was put in prison for a cannabis DUI. I didn’t know there are accurate tests out there? This guy had crossed the center line and hit head on into another car. The women was killed before being airlifted. Donald Seigler had THC levels of 6.5 ng/mL. THC while driving in WA is 5ng/mL of active THC. The guy pleaded guilty. Not sure if anything was found in his car?
Not advocating being too high to drive. Really how high is too high? If you live in a legal state be careful.



Initiative 502 legalized marijuana use for adults however there are still a number of restrictions. It is important for you to be aware of the following laws:

  • Age Limit – Only adults age 21 and older can purchase and possess marijuana.
  • Purchase Limits – Adults age 21 and over can purchase up to one ounce of useable marijuana (the harvested flowers, or “bud”), 16 ounces of marijuana-infused edibles in solid form, 72 ounces in liquid form, and 7 grams of marijuana concentrates.
  • Buying and Selling – Marijuana can only be sold and purchased at state-licensed retail stores. A valid photo ID is required, and no one under 21 is allowed on the retail premises. Many retail marijuana stores only accept cash.
  • Public Use – It is illegal to consume marijuana in view of the public.
  • Driving – It is illegal to drive under the influence of marijuana if you have more than 5 nanograms of active THC per milliliter of blood. Doing so may result in significant legal penalties.
  • Travel – It is illegal to take marijuana outside of Washington. Doing so may result in significant legal penalties.
 

macbill

Oh No! Mr macbill!!
Staff member
Hey Stoners, You Should Pay Attention to Who Wins Washington's Sun Cup

Some of the best pot on earth is grown under the sun, far from the artificial lights of a warehouse. But outdoor weed can also be some of the absolute worst, most commodified cannabis. So how can you support environmentally friendly pot while also making sure you're getting a dank bag of weed?


One way is to pay attention to the Sun Cup, an annual competition between outdoor farmers put on by the Washington SunGrowers Industry Association (WSIA). The contest attracts some of the best outdoor growers in the state, so any farm that wins at this spring event is definitely growing some superb weed.
 
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