The 420 Minute: November 19, 2017

The 420 Minute: November 19, 2017

By Sarah Mulcahy

Alright, folks. Welcome back to The 420 Minute, bringing you legalization news from Washington state and around the globe.

CAUTION: OBSCENE LANGUAGE (for the pansies that can't handle a curse word, I believe strongly in the concept of lalochezia. You have been warned.)

As many of you know, we are headquartered in Spokane, a beautiful city that truly is, at times, near nature, near perfect (Seriously, that’s our motto in the Lilac City). Spokane is home to the world’s largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament, an annual world-renowned marathon called Bloomsday, and was once the host city for The World’s Fair (Expo ‘74). In addition, Spokane also has a number of legal medical and recreational marijuana producers.

Now, most of us are familiar with the skunky, sweet odor of pot. For many smokers that tell-tale smell is like the aroma of heaven. For the poor souls that don’t partake, however, it might as well be Hell’s incense. And here in Spokane County, I-502 businesses might be hit with yet another costly fee regarding the very scent we potheads know and love.

The Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency (SRCAA) has received nearly 500 complaints in the three years since retail outlets and producers opened up in Washington. That’s almost 2.5 times as many as the three years prior to weed legalization. Due to the overwhelming volume of complaints, the SRCAA has decided to take action.

Every grow-op in Spokane County will be required to register with the air pollution agency as well as pay an annual fee. These fees are based on the size of the grow and range from $528 to almost $5000.

This new turn of events has left many Spokane residents questioning the County and SRCAA regarding other smelly businesses and wondering if this is just another attack on the legal weed industry. Earlier this year, a Snohomish County court ruled in favor of Cedar Grove Composting regarding a lawsuit brought by a resident of Marysville against the company for their stinky practices. In fact, Cedar Grove is supporting a bill that, if passed, would protect composting under agriculture laws, preventing these types of “nuisance” lawsuits in the future.

If the aroma of weed is the only real issue, it seems unlikely that any type of dangerous pollution is actually being released by these marijuana farms, then perhaps the pot industry could take a page out of the composters manual. Much of the industry on the growing end is treated similar to other aspects of the agriculture industry in Washington. Couldn’t a similar bill protect pot farms from these types of complaints? But to charge growers yet another fee to simply stay in operation, it all seems a bit too back-handed.

The federal government (not to mention state governments in legal weed states) is enjoying the financial boom from state-legal marijuana sales. Marijuana businesses are paying exorbitant levels of taxes, can’t use banks for payroll or anything else, have an excessive amount of restrictions regarding every aspect of the industry from seed to sale, and now they are too fucking stinky for some people. Yet, many of these same people complaining about the skunky aroma of pot farms have zero issue with the rancid stench coming from the paper mill in Millwood, the ‘aroma of Tacoma’, or stanky-ass Clarkston (literally the entire city reeks of chemicals from the local paper mill).

We need to stop demonizing this blossoming billion-dollar industry. Marijuana is not the problem. The smell of marijuana might be overpowering but it is not damaging to the environment and should not be regulated by an air pollution agency. What’s next, de-glanding skunks? Fees for rose gardens? Will we fine pet-owners for gassy dogs?

Sometimes shit stinks, deal with it.

That’s The 420 Minute. Thanks for reading and remember: Keep calm and smoke on.