Pasco marijuana business fined again by state

A Pasco marijuana growing and processing operation with a history of legal problems has been fined by the state for two more violations.

Inspectors with the state Liquor Control Board found paraphernalia used for smoking marijuana on a visit to Botany Unlimited Design & Supply LLC at 2505 N. Commercial Ave., board spokesman Brian Smith said.

“You can’t do that,” Smith said.

The violation led to a $2,500 fine on Sept. 16.

Botany Unlimited was fined again by the state Sept. 26 after an inspection found it did not have the required security and alarm system.

The grower and processor was one of four licensed marijuana businesses across Washington to be fined by the Liquor Control Board in September, according to the Associated Press.

Botany Unlimited was awarded a state license earlier this year, but appears to be operating illegally because Pasco’s moratorium — now ban — on marijuana businesses predates licensing.

The Liquor Control Board regulates which applicants get licenses to sell, process or grow marijuana, but cities and counties can still set up zoning rules or ban them outright.

The Metro Drug Task Force served at least one search warrant at Botany Unlimited before it received its marijuana producing and processing licenses from the state and found dozens of marijuana plants.

The case was referred to Franklin County Prosecutor Shawn Sant, who has yet to file charges, as far as Pasco Police Capt. Jim Raymond knows.

“It’s sitting there filed to be reviewed for prosecution,” Raymond said.

Sant could not be reached for comment Friday.

City code enforcement officers earlier found unpermitted construction at the site, said Rick White, Pasco’s community and economic development director.

“I suspected from the initial inspection they were growing marijuana in the building,” he said.

City inspectors and the drug task force also visited the facility Sept. 17, 2013. The city cited it for failure to prevent an illegal activity, as well as for not having a city business license and for serving as a dwelling, according to the minutes of a January Code Enforcement Board meeting. The board upheld the violations.

Growing marijuana for commercial purposes is illegal in Pasco, where the city council passed a ban on recreational marijuana businesses in July, and had a temporary moratorium in place since Sept. 3, 2013. The ban applies even for businesses licensed by the state.

But Botany Unlimited’s website says it is now offering cuttings for sale to licensed marijuana dealers, with its first harvest planned in mid-October. After that, it will serve “top quality buds” every other day.

The grower at Botany Unlimited, Mark Gomez, was at the center of a controversy over the Liquor Control Board’s licensing program.

He told Metro Drug Task Force officers after they discovered his grow in 2013 that he had been approved to start growing marijuana early by Liquor Control Board officials, according to an email sent from Liquor Control Board enforcement Officer Marie Reddout on the day of the discovery.

The email said Gomez had a medical marijuana card but was growing in excess of the 40 plants allowed, and planned for the plants to become part of a licensed grow when the state started licensing in 2014.

In her email, Reddout questioned the idea of rewarding illegal grows with a license.

The meeting with Gomez was actually a chance for a Liquor Control Board intern to see how a sample grow might operate, Smith said Friday.

Gomez also asked about whether previous criminal convictions would prevent him from receiving his license, the email said.

The Liquor Control Board uses a points system to determine whether criminal convictions are substantial enough to prevent applicants from getting marijuana business licenses. Gomez’s criminal record did not preclude him from getting the license, Smith said.

Botany Unlimited appears to still be growing marijuana despite Pasco’s ban, but enforcement is left to cities who institute the bans, Smith said.

Botany Unlimited could not be reached for comment Friday.

Some have tried to fight municipal bans on marijuana businesses elsewhere in the state.

A judge in Chelan County ruled Friday that nothing in Initiative 502, the 2012 law legalizing marijuana in Washington, prevents cities from placing bans on the businesses. The case brought by a proposed Wenatchee retailer joined one brought by a Fife retailer in ending up being denied in court. The plaintiffs in the Fife case have appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court.

This is not the first time a state marijuana license has drawn controversy in Pasco. David Morgan had his location for a downtown store on Lewis Street approved by the Liquor Control Board, but the agency reversed its decision in July when the city notified it that the planned store was within 1,000 feet of Peanuts Park, a downtown plaza used in conjunction with the Farmer’s Market.

I-502 prevents marijuana retail stores from opening within 1,000 feet of places children gather, including parks.

This story was originally published October 17, 2014 at 8:11 PM with the headline "Pasco marijuana business fined again by state."