Pubdate: Sat, 14 Dec 2013
Source: Daily Record, The (Ellensburg, WA)
Copyright: 2013 The Daily Record
Contact:  http://dailyrecordnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2617
Author: Mike Johnston

MARIJUANA FARMER WANTS TO FIT IN WITH HIS RURAL NEIGHBORS

Michael Graham recently purchased part of a Kittitas Valley pioneer 
homestead and said he's committed to preserving the rural character, 
property value and safety of his farm and his neighbors' nearby land.

Graham, 45, calls his 10 acres off Naneum Road northeast of 
Ellensburg a farm in expectation that he will, in the near future, 
gain full approval from the state to legally grow and process 
marijuana as an agricultural product.

"The vast majority of those in the (Initiative) 502 industry have the 
same concerns as many who are very apprehensive about it," Graham 
said earlier this week. "We want our operations to be safe and viable 
and compatible with the surrounding community."

Graham has worked in a Puget Sound-area company involved in the 
trucking industry. He and his family are making a significant change 
to live and work in a rural, agricultural area, he said.

He said he grew up in a smaller-sized town in Pennsylvania that's the 
home of a university and also is surrounded by rural farm lands.

"It's much like Ellensburg and the valley here with beautiful country 
all around," Graham said. "I'm a country boy at heart; I really don't 
like the big city."

He pointed out that the farmhouse he now owns is circa 1892 and his 
large barn was built in 1927. The land once was a large dairy 
operation in its day.

"I'm anxious to share with people the vision I have for my farm," 
Graham said. "It likely will be far different and much more 
compatible with the area's farming community and rural homes than 
what people might mistakenly imagine."

He said he has every intention to maintain the rural character of his 
farm and positive relations with those in the community.

"My hope is that potential (land-use) issues (with Kittitas County 
government) are worked out, and people who are concerned about 502 
businesses take time to read the laws and come to know how highly 
regulated we will be," he said. "My hope is that they move away from 
a fear-based reaction. I don't want anyone uncomfortable with my farm."

Get it out there

Graham said there are complex and strict state laws and rules for 
marijuana growing, processing and selling that have been enacted 
since the statewide marijuana legalization measure, Initiative 502, 
passed in the November 2012 general election.

Voters approved it with a statewide margin of 55.7 percent yes votes 
(1.72 million votes), to 44.3 percent no votes (1.37 million votes), 
according to the Secretary of State's Office.

In Kittitas County, 51.58 percent of those casting ballots voted 
against the initiative, 48.42 voted yes.

Graham wants to be part of better informing the community about the 
laws dealing with legal marijuana and the business people who are 
pursuing state-licensed operations.

"We need to get the correct information out there. There's many who 
think we're stoners, dopers and dirty hippies; that's not true," 
Graham said. "Those working to be in the business view it much like 
operating state-regulated wineries surrounded by absolutely gorgeous 
rural areas that need to be protected."

Without passage of I-502, Graham said, marijuana would continue to be 
an illegal, black market substance in Washington state with no 
quality assurance, no one caring who they're selling it to at 
"outrageous prices" and costing taxpayers for enforcement.

The black market, for the most part, doesn't provide a way to trace 
the origin, handling and treatment of its products, and there's no 
control on age groups they are going to, he said.

Once legal marijuana is sold to adults, the cost of black market pot 
will likely go through the floor, he said, and the heavy state taxes 
placed on legal pot activities will support public education and 
other government expenses.

"The black market will lose its grip," he said. "Even people who 
don't like marijuana should take a harder look at what we are trying 
to do, keeping it off the black market."

Positives

Graham said as a longtime businessman and a prospective legal 
marijuana grower and processor, it's easy for him to see the 
positives in legal marijuana production, including creating more jobs 
and economic gains in the county.

He said he didn't take lightly the decision to become a grower.

"Before I got into this I had to make sure that I must be morally 
comfortable with it, or I wouldn't get involved," Graham said. "I 
truly believe it is a morally positive thing. It's a net positive, I 
believe, for all."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom