The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
44°F
Current Conditions
Clear sky
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Marijuana

Latest Stories

‹ Newer Older ›

Search

News >  Marijuana

Pot bills concern access and safety

OLYMPIA – Efforts to bring the state’s two laws on marijuana together is generating several proposals in the Legislature and rifts among the medical marijuana community. Some patients on Tuesday described a pair of bills on medical marijuana as unconstitutional intrusions; others said they were needed to provide at least some supply of the plant that’s legal under state law but illegal under federal law.
News >  Marijuana

Tougher DUI penalties proposed in Washington Legislature

OLYMPIA – Drunken drivers could face prison on their fourth conviction if the Legislature can find a way to pay for the extra burden on state prisons and county jails. One possible source of money: taxes the state currently collects on alcohol, and some of what it expects to collect for legal marijuana.
News >  Marijuana

Marijuana businesses can be banned by cities, counties, official says

OLYMPIA – Cities and counties can say no to recreational marijuana businesses even though Washington voters have said yes, Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Thursday. In a formal response to questions from the Liquor Control Board, Ferguson and his staff said Initiative 502 doesn’t pre-empt a local government’s right to restrict or ban businesses that want to grow, process or sell the drug. The state constitution gives cities and counties broad authority to control activities inside their borders unless a law specifically pre-empts that.
News >  Marijuana

Pot grower applications exceed supply of licenses

OLYMPIA – Washington is seeing a “green rush” of sorts in marijuana, with far more people wanting to grow and sell the drug legally than the state will allow. State agencies will approve no more than 334 licenses for retail marijuana stores and already have more than 2,000 applicants. Would-be pot entrepreneurs also have proposed planting many times more land than the state will allow for its newest cash crop.
News >  Business

Spokane-area business owners see potential in pot

Among more than 500 applications by people wanting to grow, process or sell legal pot in Spokane are those submitted by a former Republican state senator and a high-profile developer of homes and apartments. One of the largest proposals is an indoor grow operation proposed for the former Costco store on East Third Avenue. The venture would be led by Clarence “Cip” Paulsen III and his business associate, former state legislator Brian Murray.
News >  Marijuana

West Plains warehouse could host East Side’s first legal marijuana crops

With more than 1,100 applications to grow legal marijuana in Washington, the state has no shortage of would-be entrepreneurs eager to jump into the new industry created by voters last year. But don’t expect the successful marijuana-growing businesses to feature aging hippies sporting tie-dyed shirts and vacant looks. Stringent state regulations for security, testing and tracking mean legal marijuana production will consist of more than planting a few seeds or cuttings, watching them grow and harvesting a crop in the backyard. Some of Eastern Washington’s first marijuana crop might be grown and harvested in converted warehouses between a gravel pit and Spokane International Airport in a West Plains industrial park.
News >  Marijuana

Liquor Control Board recommends new limits on medical marijuana

Washington should severely cut the amount of marijuana that medical patients can possess, require them to register with the state and have annual medical checkups, and pay most of the same taxes as recreational users, a state agency recommended Wednesday. In a move sure to draw fire from the medical marijuana community, the state Liquor Control Board released recommendations it will send to next year’s Legislature as the state tries to blend two sets of laws on the drug.
News >  Washington Voices

Spokane Valley underfunding street work

A recent street survey shows that Spokane Valley should be spending $7 million a year on street preservation and reconstruction projects. The city has been spending about $4 million a year for the past few years, including about $1 million in grants, said Public Works Director Eric Guth.
News >  Marijuana

Seattle party celebrates year of legalized marijuana

SEATTLE — Today marks the anniversary of the day Washington’s legal marijuana law took effect, and hundreds of people are expected to celebrate by lighting up beneath the Space Needle at a party permitted by the city of Seattle.
News >  Marijuana

Washington marijuana sales stings will use minors

SEATTLE – A select group of minors will go into Washington’s new legal pot stores on a covert mission: to try to buy weed for the state. To curtail youth access to legal marijuana, state officials want to use minors in pot-buying stings next year when stores are expected to open.
News >  Marijuana

Washington applicants seek marijuana grow licenses more than retail

OLYMPIA – A tally of the first week of applications by would-be marijuana businesses shows a certain amount of creativity in coming up with names for what in most of the country is an illegal business. Cheech and Chong might be proud of some who play off established drug slang, such as 420 Growers and Producers, Farmer J’s, Happy Daze or United We’d Stand. Dunn and Bradstreet might be happier with other names that give no clue as to the nature of the business, like Triple T Farms or WW Processing.
News >  Marijuana

Washington marijuana license requests top 800 in first week

OLYMPIA – More than 800 potential new businesses have signed up to grow, process or sell legal marijuana in the first week Washington accepted applications for its new industry. Rick Garza, director of the state Liquor Control Board, which will award the licenses, told a legislative committee Friday about 200 applications are for retail outlets, and the state will license up to 334 stores but is limiting the licenses for each county and most cities. If the board gets fewer applications than it is allowing for the state or some communities, it could reopen the process, he said. The window for license applications currently is scheduled to close Dec. 19.
News >  Marijuana

State taking applications for marijuana licenses starting Monday

Sam Calvert has a dream of getting in on the ground floor of a historic change in retail commerce that begins Monday. But it’s a struggle, he acknowledged. “This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” said Calvert, 50, who has managed commercial real estate and worked as a consultant for business startups.
News >  Marijuana

Marijuana tax potential attracts new allies

DENVER – Colorado’s hearty embrace of a 25 percent marijuana tax this week could prove a turning point for legalization backers. They have long argued that weed should come out of the black market and contribute to tax coffers instead of prison populations. But it’s far too soon to say how much revenue the marijuana taxes in Colorado and Washington will actually produce when retail sales begin next year.
News >  Marijuana

Potential marijuana growers, sellers attend liquor board session

Eastern Washington farmers mingled with slickly dressed potential marijuana retailers in Spokane on Wednesday, all eager to grab a piece of the state’s blossoming licensed pot industry. “I started out about a year and a half ago,” said Sam Calvert, a sport-coated entrepreneur currently eyeing Spokane office space for his planned retail pot venture. “I want to get in on the ground level.”
‹ Newer Older ›

Search