State marijuana regulators received more than 800 applications to grow, process, and sell cannabis in the first week of the application window, which runs from November 18 until mid-December. But many of those pot entrepreneurs will face challenges—not from the state, but from local governments that are attempting to block them from opening their doors.
In a legislative committee hearing last week, state lawmakers were particularly concerned with jurisdictions that oppose these legal pot companies. More than 50 cities—including Vancouver, Kent, and Issaquah—have enacted bans on cannabis businesses. But that’s not the state’s problem, Washington State Liquor Control Board director Rick Garza told the committee. The state intends to issue a license to any qualified applicant, regardless of a city’s moratorium on pot businesses, and let the cities defend themselves from lawsuits from licensees.