This three part series examines the impact of legalized recreational marijuana on Whidbey Island, Washington two years after legalization. Part one discusses the financial benefits to the county through tax revenue, though the county wants a larger share. Law enforcement has not seen a significant increase in marijuana-related crimes. Youth perceptions of marijuana's risks have declined since legalization, concerning officials. Overall impacts remain unclear as data is limited after just two years.

1. santa is coming to our house!
december 5th • 1pm-4pm
Freeland Habitat Store • 1592 E. Main St, Freeland • 360-331-6272
Come Celebrate Our4th
Anniversary
Refreshments!
An Olde-FashionedChristmas
2015
HolidayGift Guide
A supp
lement to the Whidbey News-Tim
es and South Whidbey Record
By DAN RICHMAN
drichman@whidbeynewsgroup.com
“A burden on law and jus-
tice!”
“Fool’s gold!”
Rhetoric about recre-
ational marijuana flew fast
and loose on May 5, 2014, a
lively day in the basement of
1 NE 6th Street in Coupeville.
The Island County Board of
Commissioners was sched-
uled to hear public comment
and then vote on ordinance
C-40-14, enabling the county-
wide growth and sale of pot
for pleasure.
Island County was late to
the pot party. Washington
state had authorized the use
of recreational marijuana
by adults 18 months before,
in November 2012, with
Initiative 502. A year passed
before the county imposed
a study-period moratorium
on any recreational mari-
juana-related activities, and
six months more before the
commissioners were ready to
implement I-502.
JUST AS the commission-
ers were ready to vote on
that day in May, then-com-
missioner Kelly Emerson did
an about-face.
“Law enforcement is very
concerned about the impact
it’s going to have,” she said.
Whidbey is an “isolated geo-
graphical area” where prob-
lems caused by pot might
be exacerbated, she added.
“I would move that we disal-
low the right to this in Island
County.”
Commissioner Jill Johnson
seconded the motion.
The motion breached
parliamentary procedure
and reversed Emerson’s ear-
lier stand on the issue. It was
shunted aside only by the rea-
soned voice of Commissioner
Helen Price Johnson, who
said she was “aghast” at the
breach. Members of the
public at the hearing were
appalled at the notion of a ban
so late in the deliberations.
Johnson asked then-Plan-
ning Director Dave Wechner
whether the moratorium still
in place could be extended.
He said it could be.
“I’m sick to my stomach
that this decision is being
made at this moment,” Jill
Johnson exclaimed. “We’re
not clear on social costs, and
we don’t know how this will
play out in the community.”
“We fell in love with a gold
rush that has turned out in
Colorado to be fool’s gold.”
News-Times
Whidbey
WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER25,2015
WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM | 75 CENTS Yourhometownnewspaperfor125years
Vol.125,
No.94
Key dates for
recreational
marijuana
Nov. 6, 2012:
Washington
Initiative 502, legal-
izing small amounts
of marijuana and
related projects
for adults 21 and
over, is approved
by popular vote
of 55.7 percent to
44.3 percent. Island
County voters
favor the initiative
in nearly identical
proportions: 55.6
percent to 44.4 per-
cent, with a total of
41,748 votes cast.
Nov. 13, 2013:
The Board of
Island County
Commissioners
imposes a six-
month moratorium
on any activities
connected with rec-
reational marijuana
until the county
can “study the
new land uses and
adopt appropriate
health, land-use
and community-
development regu-
lations.”
May 5, 2014:
Island County ends
the moratorium and
sets out land-use
requirements.
July 8, 2014:
Recreational
marijuana sales
to the public
begin in much of
Washington state.
Oct. 24, 2014: First
retail sale of recre-
ational marijuana
on Whidbey.
n In November 2012, Washington state decided to
“try a new approach” to recreational marijuana with
Initiative 502, decriminalizing its use for residents 21
and older. Sales began in July 2014 in much of the rest
of the state and three months later on Whidbey Island.
Now, 1.5 years after legalization, we examine what
effects, pro and con, legalization has had on Whidbey
Island. Part 1 of this series looks at the law’s overall
impact. Part 2 profiles a grower/processor, and part 3
profiles a retailer. We welcome readers’ feedback.
Weedon
WHIDBEY
Part one of three
Photo by Dan Richman/Whidbey News-Times
Taylor Beargeon, 21, exhales contentedly while smoking marijuana in his Oak Harbor living room.
In the foreground are a smaller pipe and containers of pot flowers. Beargeon said his employer
knows of his habit, though he doesn’t smoke on the job.CONTINUED ON PAGE A4
Two years after legalization
Pot’s impact onWhidbey hazy
Holiday gift guide ....inside

2. Page A4 WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM Wednesday, November 25, 2015 • Whidbey News-Times
Price Johnson moved
for a vote on the enabling
ordinance, expressing her
approval of the measure. Jill
Johnson restated her strong
objections but agreed to vote
in its favor, saying that doing
otherwise would betray the
voters’ wishes.
The measure passed 2-1,
with Emerson opposed. She
resigned from the board of
commissioners shortly there-
after, for unrelated reasons.
SALES TO the public else-
where in the state began July
8, 2014. They didn’t start until
Oct. 24, 2014, on Whidbey.
Today, Emerson is gone
and Jill Johnson has relaxed
her opposition. But it’s still
far from clear what effects
legalization will have.
It may remain unclear for
years.
Legalization promised sev-
eral benefits, among them
increased tax revenue and
fewer resources squandered
chasing dealers and jailing
pot smokers. Opponents
feared legalization would
result in more DUIs, lead to
crimes against growers and
retailers and connote societal
approval of a substance some
consider a gateway to harder
drugs.
And, of course, the long-
term health effects of mari-
juana smoking still have not
been definitively examined.
How has all that shaken
out on Whidbey? In brief, it’s
had a positive financial effect
on the county. Otherwise, it
doesn’t seem to have made
much difference. Looking
more deeply requires data,
and so far that’s in short sup-
ply, both statewide and in
Island County.
That’s not because no
one here is using marijua-
na. Retail sales increased
by double-digit percentages
nearly every month, twice
hitting triple-digit percentage
increases.
“I would prefer not to have
(marijuana),” Jill Johnson
said earlier this month. “But
it has not been as visibly
harmful as I thought. (Still),
I am very concerned that our
youth are indicating a great-
er propensity to experiment
with the drug and do not
believe it is harmful.”
She is not alone in her
concern.
THE MONEY
FROM A financial point of
view, recreational marijuana
is proving a success overall,
though tax benefits to Island
County are disappointing
some.
A few dozen people in
the county are now earn-
ing income from growing,
processing or retailing rec-
reational marijuana, accord-
ing to licenses issued by the
state’s Liquor and Cannabis
Board (LCB). And they’re
doing well, as future install-
mentsofthisstorywillreveal.
Far bigger money is being
generated by taxes. In fiscal
2015, which spanned July 1,
2014 through June 30, 2015,
$1.4 million worth of recre-
ational marijuana was grown,
processed and retailed in
Island County, generat-
ing excise tax of $340,000,
according to LCB figures.
That’s 11th from the bot-
tom among the 36 counties
reporting.
King County naturally led
the list, with sales of $59 mil-
lion and excise tax of $14.8
million. Asotin County was
in last place, with sales of
$78,400 and excise tax of
$20,000. Several counties still
don’t have any recreational
marijuana operations.
STATEWIDE, marijuana
sales of $259.5 million gener-
ated $64.9 million in excise
tax during fiscal 2015.
The portion of excise
tax flowing back to Island
County in fiscal 2016 is only
$23,750 — less than 7 per-
cent of what it contributed. In
addition, Oak Harbor will get
$15,833. It’s the only munici-
pality in the county that will
get a slice of the excise-tax
pie.
Distributions of those
amounts are being made on
a quarterly basis. They began
Sept. 30. The Island County
Treasurer’s office received
its quarterly payment in a
check for $5,937.34 that
month.
The county’s share strikes
some as disproportionately
small.
“It’s the counties and the
local jurisdictions dealing
with the permitting and regs,
and it’s our law-enforcement
officers who make sure no
illegal activities happen,” said
Elaine Marlow, the county’s
budget director. “So it does
concern me that the state is
taking the lion’s share of the
excise taxes.”
Commissioner Helen
Price Johnson has crusaded
for a larger share to go to
local government, but “the
state already made a decision
for distributing marijuana
revenue … in the last ses-
sion, (and) I wouldn’t expect
any major changes in the
near term,” she wrote in an
October email.
Under HB 2136, enacted
June 30, counties and cities
could get a bigger share of
marijuana excise taxes start-
ing in fiscal 2018.
THE EXCISE-TAX money
distributed to both counties
and municipalities is intend-
ed “for public safety purposes
and to facilitate the ongoing
process of ensuring a safe,
regulated marijuana market,”
according to HB 2136. The
money is to be used for “mar-
ijuana enforcement.”
But that language is “not
very clear, so the next step
for us is to seek clarification
from the state,” Marlow said.
HB 2136 doesn’t define
“enforcement,” so “there’s
a fair amount of flexibil-
ity in how the money can be
spent,” said Brian Enslow, a
senior policy director at the
Washington State Assn. of
Counties.
At the same time, he
added, “our members want-
ed to be able to spend it on
anything, and that’s not the
situation.”
Island County Prosecutor
Greg Banks said he’s dis-
appointed the state hasn’t
used the excise-tax bounty
to improve drug-abuse pro-
grams and increase public
awareness of the dangers of
drugs.
“The states have shown
that public-information cam-
paigns can educate people
about smoking cigarettes and
wearing seat belts,” Banks
said.
“That’s where most of the
money should have gone.”
LAW ENFORCEMENT
TOP COPS all over Whid-
bey regard recreational
marijuana as only a minor
threat. Prosecutor Banks,
Island County Sheriff Mark
Brown, Oak Harbor Police
Chief Ed Green and Langley
Police Chief David Marks
agree that driving under the
influence of marijuana is the
biggest concern with legal-
ization, followed by the pos-
sibility of increased use by
those under 21.
“Let’s face it,” said Marks,
“marijuana was almost legal
before it was legalized. It was
such a low law-enforcement
priority. There are bigger fish
to fry, and there always have
been.”
None of the men said
he has seen an increase in
marijuana-related crime,
such as public smoking, pos-
session of unlawful amounts
or crimes against marijuana
grow sites or retailers. None
said that, with the arrest rate
for marijuana use down —
resulting in fewer people
being jailed and prosecuted
— personnel are being laid
off or freed up for other pur-
poses.
None of the men said there
is any evidence of confusion
about the rules governing
marijuana growth and its use.
BROWN SAID he worries
about marijuana treated with
heroin or methamphetamine,
though he couldn’t say how
widespread that problem is
in Island County. Green has
observed “a small uptick in
marijuana-related DUIs,” he
said. But “people are begin-
ning to understand that mari-
juana use produces impair-
ment when driving,” he said.
None of the officers had
statistics on marijuana-relat-
ed offenses or was aware of
any county effort under way
to gather them.
The state’s Traffic Safety
Commission, in October,
issued a highly detailed
report that, though too cau-
tious to draw its own conclu-
sions, cited two 2012 meta-
analyses concluding that
increases in crash risk fol-
lowed a driver’s use of mari-
juana.
Seven studies concluded
that drivers testing positive
for marijuana’s active ingredi-
ent, THC, were more than
twice as likely to crash as
THC-free drivers, the report
Two years after legalization
County wants bigger cut of tax revenue
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Washington authorized the medi-
cal use of marijuana on Nov. 3, 1998,
creating a regulatory system that was
completely separate from that for recre-
ational marijuana.
Sales figures for medical marijuana
aren’t tracked or tallied because sales
outlets are unregulated, said Mikhail
Carpenter, a spokesperson for the
Washington State Liquor and Cannabis
Board.
Senate Bill 5052, enacted in April, will
move toward merging medical and rec-
reational marijuana laws, Carpenter said.
Starting in July 2016, medical-marijuana
dispensaries will require licensure, just
as recreational-pot retail outlets do.
Up to four patients may form a “coop-
erative garden” to grow plants.
Eventually, the medical marijuana
system is planned to become part of the
recreational marijuana system.
Photo by Dan Richman/Whidbey News-Times
Krissy Hodges, 24, enjoys ultra-strong marijuana wax dipped in hash oil, smoked on a “dab rig” fired to white heat by a propane
torch. The victim of an auto-immune disease, Hodges said she uses marijuana for medical purposes too.
Medical pot to eventually become recreational
CONTINUED ON A5

3. noted.
“I bet our marijuana stores
don’t even have a poster say-
ing people shouldn’t smoke
and drive,” Banks said.
HEALTH
SOME DATA suggests a
link between legalization and
Island County youths’ percep-
tions about marijuana use,
saidLauraLuginbill,thecoun-
ty’s assessment and healthy
communities director. But no
data indicates an increase in
Island County marijuana use
by those under 21.
Talk about legalizing pot
began well before the July
8, 2014 legalization date, of
course. I-502 was approved
in 2012, and debate no doubt
stretched back farther. Kids
may well have heard the talk,
just as adults did.
Marijuana use hovered at
1-2 percent for Island County
sixth-graders in 2004-2014
and at 14-19 percent among
10th graders during that peri-
od, according to a Healthy
Youth survey taken by the
state’s health department in
October 2014 and released in
the spring of 2015.
But the percentage of
county sixth-graders saying
they saw no or low risk from
trying or regularly using mar-
ijuana increased significantly
between 2010 and 2014, to 51
percent from 42 percent. The
percentage of 10th-graders
with that perception grew to
96 percent, from 76 percent,
during the same period.
“It’s not justified to infer
causation, but there is a cor-
relation between legalization
and the perception that mari-
juana use poses little or no
risk,” Luginbill said.
The next survey is due out
in the spring 2017.
YOUTH USE of marijuana
has emerged as a topic of
concern for the county’s
Substance Abuse Prevention
Coalition, said its chair-
man, Langley Mayor Fred
McCarthy. The group’s
formation in June 2014 had
nothing to do with marijuana,
but since pot became legal,
“both adults and school-aged
kids need to be educated that
the same rules applying to
alcohol also apply to marijua-
na — just because the state
approved it doesn’t mean it’s
OK to do.”
Edible marijuana, in the
appealing form of cookies,
brownies and candies, con-
cerns Prosecutor Banks,
both because it is intrinsical-
ly appealing to children and
because novices can easily
overdose.
“If people want edibles,
they can bake their own
brownies,” he said.
In response to a public-
records request, Whidbey
General Hospital said in
October that, since legaliza-
tion, it generated no data on
requests for treatment or
ER visits, marijuana addic-
tion among adults, marijuana
smoking or consumption by
those under 21 or any other
marijuana-related accidents,
conditions or developments.
“Legalized marijuana is
something of a social experi-
ment,” acknowledged Keith
Higman, the county’s Health
Services director. “I have the
same concerns as I would
about any other products
that alter brain chemistry.
Impaired driving is a focus.”
“So is the inhaling of ignit-
ed products.”
Marijuana remains a
controlled substance under
federal law, so it’s off lim-
its to military personnel,
said Whidbey Island Naval
Air Station spokesman Tony
Popp.
The base administers ran-
dom drug tests without warn-
ing.Of765testsadministered
in 2014, only two came back
positive. Of the 693 adminis-
tered so far this year, none
came back positive.
BANKING
BECAUSE MOST banks
are federally regulated, they
tend to be leery of accept-
ing money from growing,
processing or retailing mari-
juana. That makes it hard
for those in the marijuana
industry to bank their money
and to obtain loans, at least
if they’re candid about the
source of their income.
And it makes recreational
marijuana an all-cash busi-
ness, increasing the risk of
theft at grow sites and retail
outlets.
“The big banks nation-
wide don’t touch it, because
though 25 states allow mari-
juana for medical or recre-
ational purposes, the rules
are different in each state, so
they’d have to develop differ-
ent systems for each state,”
said Scott Jarvis, director of
the state’s Department of
Financial Institutions.
“Probably a half-dozen
banks and credit unions in
the state are doing some
marijuana business.”
FUTURE RESEARCH
A GREAT deal more
research will be forthcoming
on recreational marijuana use
in Washington State, though
only parts of it may be spe-
cific to Island County.
n The Washington State
Institute for Public Policy is
planning a massive, multi-
year cost-benefit study
mandated and funded by
I-502. An initial report out-
lining the project appeared
in September, and further
reports are due on Sept. 1 in
2017, 2022 and 2032, exam-
ining the effects of legaliza-
tion on public health, safety,
youth use, criminal justice,
jobs creation, revenue and
much more.
n A highly detailed report
on numerous effects of mari-
juana use in Washington is
expected by December from
the federal Office of National
Drug Control Policy, through
its High-Intensity Drug
Trafficking Areas program,
said Jane Wall, the govern-
ment-relations analyst for the
Assn. of Washington Cities.
n The Alcohol and Drug
Abuse Institute at the
University of Washington
warns on the Liquor and
Cannabis Board’s website
that “marijuana use increases
the risk of lower grades and
dropping out of school.”
That Institute will use 0.6
percent of the excise taxes
generated by recreational
marijuana sales to research
the short- and long-term
health effects of marijuana, it
says on its website.
Photo by Dan Richman/Whidbey News-Times
Firing up the “dab rig” to smoke marijuana wax, which can
contain 60-80 percent in psychoactive THC. Marijuana flow-
ers, typically test at between 20 and 30 percent THC.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015 • Whidbey News-Times WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM Page A5
CONTINUED FROM PAGE A4
Two years after legalization
Marijuana remains illegal under federal law
Whidbey News-Times graphic by Jen Miller
Island County recreational marijuana sales totaled $2.7 million between October 2014 and
October 2015. Statewide, sales total $275.4 million to date.