Pubdate: Thu, 06 Mar 2014
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2014 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Bob Young

FIRST STATE LICENSE IN HAND, POT MERCHANT GETS GROWING

21,000-Square-Foot Spokane Facility

State Board to Issue Dozen More Licenses Soon

Washington's first legal pot grower was introduced by state officials 
Wednesday as an entrepreneur who followed the rules and out-hustled 
other applicants to the finish line.

Sean Green, 32, now runs medical-marijuana dispensaries in Spokane 
and Shoreline. He plans to open a 21,000-square-foot growing and 
processing facility in Spokane.

Officials at the state Liquor Control Board (LCB) said Green was one 
of the first to apply, and hurdled each step of the vetting process 
without hang-ups.

He "hustled as if he was competing at Sochi," said board member Ruthann Kurose.

She said an additional dozen growing licenses would soon be awarded.

Farmers will get the first licenses so they can grow and harvest weed 
for state-licensed retail stores expected to open in summer.

Green's license was hailed as a milestone in Washington's march to 
create a system for regulating production and sale of pot, which 
remains illegal under federal law.

"It's one thing to talk about marijuana legalization. It's a much 
different thing to see it now roll out," said Alison Holcomb, chief 
author of the new law that allows adults to possess an ounce of weed.

Green's company is called Kouchlock Productions. "Couch-lock" is a 
term for being too stoned to get off the sofa. After receiving his 
license, Green exclaimed: "Jimmy Kimmel, yes, I will come on your show."

In introducing him, LCB Chairwoman Sharon Foster echoed Green's 
sentiment that he's a guy who follows the rules.

But according to complaints with the state Department of Labor & 
Industries (L&I), Green withheld wages from two employees at his 
Shoreline dispensary. A department spokesman said Green's company 
paid the wages, totaling more than $1,600, and resolved the issue last year.

On his license application, Green reported that his nonprofit medical 
business, Pacific Northwest Medical, had annual revenue of $800,000. 
He reported his salary as $129,600.

When asked about the wage complaints at a news conference in Olympia, 
Green said, "I was not aware of the complaints."

But L&I spokesman Matthew Erlich said employers, such as Green, would 
receive a copy of complaints workers file with the agency. He 
confirmed with The Associated Press that the department dealt 
directly with Green to resolve the complaints.

In her L&I complaint about withheld wages, Lydia Ensley said Green 
"sexually harassed other workers (and) asked me to lie as manager ... 
when confronted about the sexual harassment employer Sean Green 
dismissed incident and asked me to overlook it."

Ensley herself did not complain about being harassed. The Seattle 
Times was not able to speak with the allegedly harassed employee.

Erlich noted that L&I doesn't handle sexual-harassment complaints. 
Those are referred to the state Human Rights Commission, he said.

Erlich said the referral in this case would have been conveyed in a 
conversation, not a formal document.

A spokeswoman for the commission said it had no records of 
sexual-harassment complaints about Green or his business.

When asked again about the complaints before he left the Liquor 
Control Board (LCB) office, Green twice said, "I won't be addressing 
that today."

State officials said Green passed criminal-background checks and 
financial investigations in applying for his business. Looking at L&I 
complaints is not part of the qualifying process for state pot 
business licenses.

LCB Director Rick Garza said the vetting mirrors what the agency does 
for liquor-license applications, which also do not include workers' 
complaints to L&I. He said the agency may need to look at workers' complaints.

Board member Chris Marr said Green will need to comply with all rules 
going forward. It's likely, Marr said, that some applicants would be 
"involved in legal actions" but the state rules are specific on what 
would disqualify an applicant, and a complaint to L&I is not among them.

Wednesday's announcement of Green's license in Olympia was otherwise 
a celebration, packed by LCB staff and Green's employees.

A former real-estate appraiser in Spokane, Green said he got into the 
marijuana business when appraisals "one day just stopped" because of 
the sagging economy. That led him to open his Shoreline dispensary in 
2011. He said he started the business with just $10,000.

He said he plans to employ at least 30 people at his new 
recreational-pot business in Spokane.

His dream, he said, is to take his business national one day, 
assuming the federal prohibition of pot ends. He envisions 78 stores 
and 57 manufacturing facilities around the country.

Green said the precise numbers mirror the establishments of a family 
friend Arthur Oberto, founder of Oberto Sausage.

He said challenges remain for his business, especially in banking. 
Green said his most recent bank canceled his account when it learned 
he was in the medical-marijuana business. That was the sixth time he 
lost a bank account because of his business, he said.

Becky Smith, the LCB's licensing director, said she had expected to 
receive maybe 2,500 marijuana-business applications in the one month 
the agency accepted them.

Instead, more than 7,000 flooded in.

Marr likened the process of vetting those to "drinking from a fire hose."

"We have a lot riding on this," Marr said of licensing. "We have to 
get this right."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom