Few recreational or medical marijuana businesses have had their licenses revoked since the start of legal marijuana sales — none in Clark County. And in most of those cases, the state shut them down due to problems with ownership records.
That’s related to one of the main obstacles that agents with the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board face, agency Deputy Chief Steve Johnson said.
Of the eight businesses that have had their licenses revoked as of late February, six were for state rules violations stemming from not revealing or misrepresenting who precisely owns a business, failing to provide required information or misrepresenting the facts in license information.
The agency’s officers have full investigatory and arrest powers, but their mandate is limited to crimes connected to tobacco, liquor or marijuana laws.
“Where it becomes problematic is in the financial crimes and white-collar crimes, things like that,” Johnson said.
In those cases, the agency will have to bring in local police, he said, who don’t always have the resources to handle financial crimes.
Still, WSLCB Chief Justin Nordhorn said, rolling marijuana enforcement into the board’s enforcement mandate has gone fairly well.
“I think it’s a little more time-consuming than we originally anticipated,” he said.
In the early days after voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, the state’s early assumptions planned for more large-scale growing operations, and far fewer businesses overall, Nordhorn said.
Instead, more small growing operations applied for licenses, and the number of retail shops was allowed to expand, and the varying distribution of shops and wholesalers around the state sometimes creates logistical hurdles.
“It is a bit of a challenge sometimes, on the balancing,” he said. “We obviously have a lot more licensees than we originally assumed, but it’s a much smaller scale.”
“Each retail officer has roughly 300 locations they’re responsible for,” Johnson said.
That comes to about seven compliance checks per officer per month, he said.
There are about 100 WSLCB officers working statewide who handle enforcement for state alcohol, tobacco and cannabis regulations, he said.
The agency has issued 665 penalties since May 2014 through late February, according to WSLCB records.
The board assesses penalties per specific violation, so one case can account for multiple penalties. There have been 497 cases with one or more penalties.
Problems with ownership records can result in an immediate cancelation of a license, but many more penalties were far less harsh.
About 57 percent of penalties issued, 390 through February, have been fines. The state issued 240 written warnings in that time.
The state’s ordered the destruction of harvested plants in seven instances and temporarily suspended licenses 18 times.
Local penalties
Three licensed businesses in Clark County have been penalized since 2014.
Agrijuana, a producer and processor, received a written warning in January 2015 for problems with its operating plan.
Recreational and medical marijuana retailer Green Head Cannabis received a written warning early this year for failure to maintain required surveillance systems.
In January, the board temporarily suspended the license for producer-processor Welwater for five days for violating the rules for transporting product.
Before receiving written warning for a signage rule violation last September, marijuana store New Vansterdam in June was fined for allowing a minor in a restricted area, according to the WSLCB.
Though apparently operating in violation of county code, a marijuana shop in Hazel Dell has not been cited by the state.
Sticky’s Pot Shop on Highway 99 in Hazel Dell received a state license, opened and is operating despite the county’s moratorium on marijuana businesses.
The dispute between the store and county is ongoing, but Brian Smith, a spokesman for the WSLCB, said the state does not enforce county-level regulations.
The greatest driver for complaint calls to the board stems from advertising, Johnson said, and it’s usually one licensee complaining about another.
Nordhorn said of every business that has been caught selling marijuana to a minor in a compliance check — where underage shoppers hired by the WSLCB try making a purchase — only one failed a second time.
When the agency looks at the breakdown for complaints, he said the No. 1 concern people have is minors accessing alcohol.
In a statewide round of checks in July, retail marijuana stores had an 88 percent compliance rate of not selling to minors. For alcohol retailers that month, it was about 83 percent.
