Don’t mock pot merchants

After reading both The Spokesman-Review Oct. 18 news article and Doug Clark’s Oct. 21 column poking fun at Spokane City Councilwoman Karen Stratton’s ownership of a state-licensed marijuana business, I feel compelled to respond.

If the intent was to encourage an uneducated reader to view this as a less-than-respectable enterprise, or worthy of the tiresome pot-related humor many of us have been forced to endure of late, they served their purpose.

As a Washington regulator appointed to oversee implementation of the state recreational marijuana system, let me remind that the voters approved a highly regulated market that ensures public safety and restricted youth access, while generating hundreds of millions in new revenues for the state, and thousands of jobs.

Licensees like Stratton and the hundreds of entrepreneurs who have invested heavily in this industry represent an opportunity to put the thriving illicit market out of business, something a long and expensive “war on drugs” has failed to do. While they should be judged in the marketplace on their ability to operate profitably under tight regulation, there is no need to subject them to mockery or suggestions that they are engaged in anything less than a legitimate business.

Chris Marr

Washington Liquor Control Board

Olympia