Local News

Twenty-Five Apply for Marijuana Licenses in Okanogan County

Nov 27, 2013

In Okanogan County, 15 individuals or entities have applied to the state to produce cannabis products, 9 have applied to process cannabis and 1 has applied to become a retail provider.

The State Liquor Control Board on Tuesday released the names and addresses of more than 400 applicants — including such names in Okanogan County as Green Veteran, The Green Surfer, Green Valley Living, and Cannasol Farms Incorporated.

Liquor Control Board spokesman Brian Smith said Tuesday that licensing investigators are now processing the applications.

“Our investigators will be working with the applicants,” he said.

Those investigators were checking residency status of the applicants as well as verifying financial backgrounds. They are also checking the locations of the proposed businesses, ensuring that the businesses are not located within 1,000 feet of schools or other specified gathering places.

A new list will be posted next Tuesday, Smith said, with further lists published on subsequent Tuesdays showing which applicants meet requirements and remain in the mix.

He said he expects to publish a final list sometime early next year.

Smith said, “We estimate that we will be issuing licenses in February or March.”

This would put the opening of retail stores in “late May or June,” he said.

Producers and processors have been given priority for licensing, he said. This would help facilitate a crop that would be ready for retail sales in late spring.

Among the 15 applicants who wish to produce Marijuana in Okanogan County, two propose to produce in a facility with a growing “canopy” less than 2,000 square feet; three propose a canopy of between 2,000 and 10,000 square feet; and ten propose to produce in an area of between 10,000 and 30,000 square feet.

The list as published Tuesday contains several repeated applicant listings. Smith said, “It’s raw data that hasn’t been vetted.”

He said, Following investigations, subsequent lists should prove more refined.