OLCC news
OREGON: The list of cities or counties in Oregon that have prohibited the establishment of licensed recreational marijuana producers, processors, wholesalers, and/or retailers has been updated to include Brownsville, Dufur, and Turner.
WASHINGTON: There’s a ban on the sale of recreational marijuana in Clarkston, but that didn’t stop Kelly Jackson from inviting people to check out the city’s first pot shop (Friday) today.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA_00sdRdq4&w=560&h=315]
CANADA: About 40 per cent of Vancouver’s marijuana businesses are less than 300 metres away from city schools and community centres — putting them in violation of the city’s proposed regulation on pot dispensaries.
The city released its list of 84 marijuana-related businesses operating within Vancouver on Friday, but admitted the list may not be complete.
The city initially denied a request to provide a comprehensive list, so lastweek CBC compiled one of its own. The disclosure comes as Vancouver announces it is looking at new rules to regulate the booming retail marijuana business, including a $30,000 licensing fee to help recover the cost of enforcement.
CANADA: The public will have a chance to give their input on Vancouver’s proposal to regulate the growing number of pot shops after city council decided April 28 to send the issue to public hearing.
The move, which is unprecedented by a Canadian municipal government, came after city manager Penny Ballem outlined a series of regulations to ensure the city has some control over the 85 pot shops.
Regulations call for an annual $30,000 licence fee for dispensary operators, criminal record checks and keeping pot shops 300 metres from schools and community centres.
WASHINGTON: Thurston County residents will once again debate whether to extend recreational marijuana regulations that have been in place since November 2013.
The discussion will take place Tuesday at a public hearing held by the Thurston County Board of Commissioners. The hearing will start at 5:30 p.m. in Room 280 of the Thurston County Courthouse, Building 1.
Planning Manager Mike Kain said county staff will recommend that commissioners renew the interim regulations for another six months without changes. He said they’ve encountered few problems with the current rules.
“I can say I think it’s working pretty well, and for that reason we are not planning on making any changes,” Kain said.
Under the regulations, recreational production and processing are permitted in most zones that permit agriculture or industrial uses, and marijuana retail is allowed in most commercial zones. Medical marijuana, however, is unregulated.
Kain said the lack of medical marijuana regulations may generate some comments from meeting attendees.
“We may have some people asking us to incorporate medical marijuana into the regulations, or to enact a moratorium,” Kain said.
CANADA: Homeowners in a Vancouver Island community are raising a stink about a medical marijuana grow operation they say is driving down their property values.
Shawnigan Lake resident Neil Haley lives just 30 metres away from the licensed grow-op, which moved into the community just under two years ago.
Haley says the stench that emanates from the facility often infiltrates his family’s home.
“The smell, at times, is overwhelming. It gets on our clothes,” he said. “Our bedrooms are right there as well. It goes through the bedroom window, we can’t have that open.”
WASHINGTON: The Wagner Lake community just outside of Monroe in Snohomish County offers a tranquil lifestyle featuring mountain views, a lake for swimming, and now…..a pot farm.
Many neighbors had no idea about the new operation until bulldozers and greenhouses started showing up on a ten-acre parcel near them this summer.
“It was a complete shock! We had no idea, no idea,” said Dean Keppler whose family has lived in the area for nearly 40 years. “There were no public notice signs, there were no land action warnings.”
None of the neighbors had heard about public hearings leading up to the Snohomish County Council’s decision on November 13, 2013, to allow marijuana growing and processing operations in what is referred to as R-5 zoning. R-5 zones are rural areas with a minimum of five acre plots, but over the years some plots have been subdivided. That’s allowed for neighborhoods to emerge. Other R-5 zones feature remote, large lots where few people live.
Snohomish County was one of the first to allow growing and processing operations in R-5 zones.
CANADA: The promise of a fledgling industry about to burst onto the Canadian scene has led many to startups lining up to cash in on green gold.
So far, Health Canada has issued 23 licences to companies wanting to develop medical marijuana production facilities in Canada of about 1,200 applications received in response to the federal marijuana for medical purposes regulations released last April. While some municipalities have been preparing to deal with the new industry, others are scrambling to decide how to respond.
Among the applicants is CEN Biotech Inc., a Canadian subsidiary of Creative Edge Nutrition Inc. It plans to go into medical marijuana production in Lakeshore, Ont.
Right across the country, several companies, some of them public, geared up at the starting line as they sought a federal licence to begin marijuana production under the new regime. But even before getting production licences, some have developed plans, purchased real estate, filed rezoning applications, and started building.
WASHINGTON: Spokane County planning commissioners heard an earful Thursday about a nose-full of marijuana odor, as they considered revising where pot businesses can operate.
Carl Caughran, a rural landowner near Cheney, said his wife now suffers asthmatic symptoms from what he called a “skunk-like” smell wafting over property lines from a big growing operation next door.
Caughran said a Tier 2 growing operation, which means the owner can have up to 10,000 square feet of growing cannabis, opened next door without notice. He agrees with imposing a moratorium on new growers and producers based on his experience, he said.
The opponents’ testimony led to the suggestion of stopping the licensing of new marijuana growers, producers and sellers within the county, an offer that met with some support from volunteers of the seven-member board that advises the County Commission on land-use issues.
MICHIGAN: A vote on a special use permit that would allow a proposed medical marijuana dispensary and grow operation to move into an Ypsilanti Township building has been delayed a second time.
Denise Pollicella, an attorney representing the Michigan Wellness Group, asked the Ypsilanti Township Planning Commission to table the resolution for 60 days, which the commission did at its Aug. 26 meeting.
Planning Director Joe Lawson and Policella said Michigan Wellness is awaiting a Michigan Senate vote on proposed legislation that would fully legalize the type of transactions and grow operation the dispensary needs to allow it to succeed.
Separate court decisions deemed dispensaries and edible usage of marijuana are illegal under the current Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, though not all counties have moved to shut down dispensaries. Two separate bills that would make dispensaries and marijuana-infused edibles legal overwhelmingly passed in the House in December are expected to pass in the Senate in September.
