A decade of legal weed

Kerri Sandaine, Lewiston Tribune, Idaho
Sun, November 6, 2022

Nov. 6—Ten years ago today, Washington voters gave the green light to legalizing the sale of recreational marijuana.

Love it or hate it, it's the law.

At the local level, the move sparked contentious city council meetings in Clarkston and Pullman before a limited number of shops were allowed to open their doors a few years later. Months of heated discussions in both jurisdictions drew record-sized crowds to city halls.

After moratoriums were eventually lifted, the legal marijuana business started booming on the Palouse and in downtown Clarkston. However, cities and counties still aren't receiving much of the tax revenue.

Marijuana is certainly big business in Washington. According to state figures, there was nearly $1.5 billion in retail sales in fiscal year 2021, which generated an additional $553 million in excise taxes. Of that tax money, only $15 million went to county and municipal governments; the rest filled the coffers of the state government.

During fiscal year 2021, retail marijuana sales in Asotin County totaled more than $15 million while the county and cities collected $75,088 in excise tax money. Whitman County had more than $13 million in retail sales and its entities received $133,686 in excise tax money. Garfield County doesn't have a marijuana store and doesn't get any of the tax money.

The businesses aren't causing any major upticks in crime, but law enforcement officials worry about the message it sends to kids, increases in impaired driving and the potential psychological effects of higher concentrations of THC, the psychoactive component in pot.

Marijuana advocates and store owners point to the benefits of their products, saying they are safer than what's sold on the black market and helping people deal with a wide array of ailments.

Matt Plemmons, owner of Greenfield Company in Clarkston, said the fastest growing group of customers are senior citizens. Some have used marijuana in the past, but many are newcomers seeking health remedies.

"Legalization has opened the minds of a lot of residents who questioned marijuana in the beginning," Plemmons said. "Our biggest demographic has grown in the 60-to-90 age group. They've bravely come through the doors of the shop and experienced the product for themselves."

When the businesses opened, owners in states where it is legal weren't allowed to use traditional banks because marijuana is still prohibited on the federal level.

Plemmons said that issue has since been resolved. Armed delivery services transport cash for all retail shops now. He uses Timberland Bank in Auburn for his Sweet Releaf shop in Mt. Vernon, and Numerica Credit Union in Spokane for Greenfield.

"Both shops also utilize a debit card 'cashless' ATM at the point of sale for customers who don't use cash," he said.

The shops in Clarkston and Pullman have the advantage of being located next to a state where marijuana can't be sold legally. There's no doubt that Idaho residents are helping the bottom line in both cities.

Lewiston Detective Cpl. Cody Bloomsburg said his department has "definitely seen a rise in the amount of people with marijuana" since it was legalized across the river.

"I was on patrol when marijuana was still illegal in Washington, and I feel like after it was legalized, there were a lot more traffic stops that yielded marijuana. It's much more common now."

What worries police is how concentrates, which are products that contain increased levels of THC, can affect people. Bloomsburg said he's seen several cases where younger people have used strong doses of THC, such as "dabs," and the results weren't pretty.

"I can specifically think of a young man who ended up on the fifth floor (of St. Joseph Regional Medical Center) and then he broke out, and the entire episode was caused by concentrates with higher THC levels. We still don't know all of the effects those have psychologically."

Longtime Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson remembers when Floyd's, a popular shop near the state line and University of Idaho, would pick up customers in a bus. "I haven't seen that lately," he said. "The shops closest to the Washington State University campus also seem to have a "rather busy clientele."

The city of Pullman treats marijuana stores like any other business, Johnson said. Each year when the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board issues license renewals, he sends a notice to police, fire and a community development director to see if there are any problems with the stores.

So far, no concerns have been reported, Johnson said.

"Still to this day, we have some residents who don't like it, and another larger population that accepts it," Johnson said. "So far, there's been no reported increase in criminal activity because of it."

However, cities and counties aren't seeing much benefit financially from the profitable trade of legalized marijuana.

"Like any city in Washington, we would like to have more of the tax revenue," the mayor said. "This has been on the Association of Washington Cities' legislative agenda for years, along with the city's."

Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers said when marijuana was legalized, law enforcement agencies were promised tools to detect impaired drivers, but the state never delivered.

"That makes it really, really hard for law enforcement," he said. "There's no doubt there's more impaired people on the road. It's just harder for law enforcement to detect in a way that will hold up in court."

Myers, who has been in law enforcement for 25 years, said even before it became legal, his department primarily targeted people trafficking in marijuana rather than small possession cases.

"Marijuana was already here, so it's not like this is a new thing," Myers said. "Legalization is a new approach that allows people to use it more openly. Now you can smell marijuana in public spaces."

Myers said if he ran random urine tests at the Whitman County Jail, the results would show how prevalent it's become.

"I bet about 95% would test positive for THC," he said, "and most of them would show they'd used it in the last two or three days. ... The number of mental health patients has skyrocketed in jails across the state of Washington, and the levels of THC have gone up as well. There is some incredibly potent marijuana out there now."

Studies and surveys indicate some alarming trends in states that have legalized the sale of recreational marijuana, he said. For example, the number of drivers who die in car wrecks with THC in their systems has doubled, and more Washington high school kids are reporting marijuana use.

"The sad thing is the message it sends to our youth," said Myers, who also serves as the commander of the Quad Cities Drug Task Force. "We don't want any of our children using drugs, but it almost seems like we've put our stamp of approval on it."

Clarkston Police Chief Joel Hastings agrees the biggest concern and issues now are access to minors and people operating motor vehicles under the influence.

"The legal marijuana industry is still relatively new, and the black market continues to operate. Reducing black market operations in our state is a work in progress," Hastings said.

"The marijuana retail outlets are extremely regulated and have been good at securing their stores against theft and burglary," he added. "Each store is subject to compliance checks by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. I am unaware of any cases of marijuana being sold directly to minors at our local stores. When we find marijuana on juveniles, it has often come from home or the black market."

One thing that has widespread agreement is that youth should not be exposed to marijuana use, Hastings said. The Clarkston Police Department is involved in prevention efforts and is a participant in the EPIC (Empowering People and Inspiring Change) coalition. EPIC leads community programs to increase youth connection to family, friends and community. Its primary goal is to minimize the likelihood that our youth will develop short- and long-term physical and emotional problems as a result of substance abuse.

"Statistically, driving under the influence of marijuana has been trending upward," Hastings said. "Drivers should know that driving under the influence of marijuana is dangerous and can lead to increased crash risk. Law enforcement has been working toward improving detection and processing of DUIs involving marijuana."

Kelly Jackson, of Asotin, is the former owner of Canna4Life and one of the advocates who attended Clarkston City Council meetings in support of allowing retail shops in the downtown corridor.

"For me, it was very personal because cannabis tinctures have controlled my chronic asthma. The expensive pharmaceutical drugs I used to take didn't work, and cannabis does at a fraction of the cost," Jackson said.

He and other retailers believe legalization has increased the safety of the products now sold in shops across the state of Washington.

"Legalization has taken an uncontrolled black market product and made it safer for consumers, because all cannabis sold in state-licensed stores must adhere to state-controlled testing labs," Jackson said.

"We will always be proud of bringing a safer product to our community with so many health benefits. If we could change one thing, it would be to increase how much of the taxes remain in our town so our elected officials could use the money instead of the state controlling all of the revenue."

Sandaine can be reached at kerris@lmtribune.com.