Local News

Twenty-Six Apply for Licenses to Grow Marijuana

Dec 04, 2013

In Okanogan County, 26 individuals or entities have now applied to the state to produce Marijuana, 16 have applied to process Marijuana but there remains only one application to become a retail provider.

The State Liquor Control Board on Tuesday released the updated list of names and addresses of the now more than 1300 applicants — including such new names in Okanogan County as 5 point products, Monkey Grass Farms, Okanogan High Country Products and The Lazy Bee Organic Gardens.

Liquor Control Board spokesman Brian Smith said that licensing investigators continue processing the applications.

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 is posted each Tuesday, Smith said, with further showing which applicants meet requirements and remain in the mix.

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

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 26 applicants who wish to produce Marijuana in Okanogan County, three propose to produce in a facility with a growing “canopy” less than 2,000 square feet; six propose a canopy of between 2,000 and 10,000 square feet; and 17 propose to produce in an area of between 10,000 and 30,000 square feet.