Pubdate: Fri, 08 Mar 2013
Source: Kitsap Sun (WA)
Copyright: 2013 Kitsap Sun
Contact: http://web.kitsapsun.com/scripts/letters.html
Website: http://www.kitsapsun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4404
Author: Josh Farley

CROWD SEEKS ANSWERS ABOUT NEW POT LANDSCAPE IN STATE

BREMERTON - Seeking a new career following economic hard times, 
Christy Stanley is hoping to set up shop in what one man referred to 
at a forum Thursday night as "The Green Market."

Around 200 residents, including Stanley, converged on the Kitsap 
Conference Center, many to voice their concerns and opinions on the 
state's fledgling effort to regulate the sale of marijuana following 
its legalization.

Stanley, a Kingston mother of four, once worked in construction and 
cleaning. But those jobs were decimated by the housing market 
collapse a few years ago and she's looked for something else to pay 
the bills. She sees a future in not only cannabis but hemp, another 
product of the marijuana plant.

"It's been really tough. But this is really exciting stuff," Stanley 
said. "I'm willing to step up."

Stanley, like others who spoke Thursday, got a chance to tell the 
state's Liquor Control Board, tasked with implementing marijuana 
legalization and regulation, her thoughts on how it moves forward. 
She chose to focus her support around the cottage industry that could 
develop and asked that no barriers go up that could hinder that development.

"My biggest fear is that big agra, big pharma, and other 
corporations, having had no real great investment, interest or 
sacrifice, will lobby hard to seek control and dictate to those who 
are now in this historic position," she said.

Voters approved, by a 56 percent margin, an initiative last fall that 
legalized up to an ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and older. It 
also opened the door to allow growers and sellers of pot under a 
regulatory framework developed by the liquor board. The Bremerton 
meeting was the eighth and final session of the board seeking comment 
from the public.

The challenge facing the liquor board is unprecedented.

"We and the state of Colorado are doing something that's never in the 
world been done before," said liquor board chairwoman Sharon Foster 
to start the meeting, looking up from a pair of glittery reading 
glasses. "We want to do it right."

For the most part, the meeting went smoothly, though Foster did 
threaten to turn the mike off for those who were rude and interrupted 
those who ran long. From this reporter's view, only one man actually 
lighted a joint during public comment.

Many who took the mike voiced concern over farming practices and 
making sure growers wouldn't use things like pesticides. Others 
ranted against the taxes - 25 percent at every sale, including for 
growers, processors and retailers - that will hit the market Dec. 1.

Others took issue with the 5 nanogram marijuana blood limit that, if 
found by a cop on a blood draw after driving, results in a DUI.

The board made a point to say it could not change the initiative, 
including that DUI standard and the excise taxes.

During his turn at the mike, Charles Stice, of Bremerton, chose to 
take on the impending decision from the federal government - which 
views marijuana as illegal in any form - and used the Bible to back 
his case. He quoted Genesis 2:6, "And the Lord God commanded the man, 
'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden.'"

Stice said we're either in a free country, "or in a police state 
where we are not allowed to follow God's commandments."

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said the Obama administration 
will announce a position on the Washington and Colorado laws in the 
coming months.

David Mikelson, a Key Peninsula resident who said he has 47 years 
experience with marijuana, said he'd like to see a 100 plant limit 
for growers to ensure a cottage industry stays that way. He even 
provided the board a price of what it will take for growers to survive.

"Growers on the Key feel $150 per ounce is the minimum required to be 
profitable," he said.

Mary Clare Kersten, of Bainbridge Island, asked that the board not 
limit growers' licenses because it would perpetuate a black market by 
keeping some of those who grow under ground.

"The only way to figure out breadth of production in this state is to 
legalize every one of them," she said. " Besides, some of these folks 
are growing very good bud, and they should be allowed to compete in a 
free marketplace."

Laura Hyde, who works in drug prevention for Kitsap County, expressed 
to the board a fear about increased marijuana exposure around 
children. She called it addictive and said it has adverse effects on 
the adolescent brain, and questioned our priorities as a society by 
legalizing the drug.

The board will have to act fast in taking all the public comment in. 
By early June, it will begin accepting marijuana producer license 
applications; by mid-August, they'll begin issuing those licenses. In 
September, they'll begin accepting marijuana processor and retailer 
applications; licenses will be given soon after. Retailer licenses 
officially take effect Dec. 1.

By Jan. 1, 2014, taxes can start rolling in from marijuana sales.

Before public comment, the liquor board's Executive Director Pat 
Kohler, in a brief presentation about the task her agency's 
undertaking, pointed out it had to shut down a "billion-dollar 
business in less than six months," when liquor privatization took effect.

Much like the state's former regulatory scheme for alcohol, cannabis 
regulation will be a three-tiered scheme between growers, processors 
and retail sellers. Kohler acknowledged that while the state's doing 
this for the first time, they're learning from many sources, 
including collaborating with Colorado, which also passed a marijuana 
legalization and regulation initiative in November.

The liquor board's three members - Foster, Ruthann Kurose and Chris 
Marr - are appointed by the governor to six-year terms. Outside of 
the subject of creating regulations for marijuana sale in the state, 
the board sets policy and makes budget decisions, and makes the call 
on contested liquor license applications and enforcement actions.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom