SOUTH BEND — Officials expressed support for North County’s budding marijuana industry as they answered questions during a public forum on March 31.

Moderator Joel Penoyar, a retired state Court of Appeals judge, worked from a list of questions compiled by the Pacific County Economic Development Council. The forum was sponsored by the EDC and the Willapa Harbor Chamber of Commerce.

“The idea was lots of people had questions,” said Paul Philpott, EDC director. “How do we get information and not misinformation?”

Philpott, then chamber President Laurie Johnson and former EDC administrative assistant Danni Massin coordinated the forum. More than 55 attended the meeting.

Residents asked about stalled cannabis industry developments in Raymond including a 20-acre facility formerly owned by the Port of Willapa Harbor and greenhouses under construction at the port’s Dick Taylor Industrial Park.

Danni Massin, speaking on behalf of the Port Director Rebecca Chaffee, who was unable to attend, said the projects are on hold until the Legislature and the state Liquor Control Board adopt more workable regulations for recreational marijuana. One pending legislative proposal would merge a three-tier tax system into a single 37 percent tax levied on recreational purchasers at the point of sale. The state Senate approved the change last Friday on a 26-22 vote, with local state Sen. Brian Hatfield, D-Raymond, voting no. The measure will now be taken up by the state House.

Port records indicate 14 or 15 companies have leased land to recreational cannabis businesses, either grower/processors or retail. There are three growers/processors and one retailer in operation now. That equates to 2,000 square feet leased to retail, just over 82,000 square feet to grower/processors, 4 acres to greenhouses and 1.3 acres in industrial buildings, Massin said.

Port property is exempt from property tax, Massin continued, but the port collects a leasehold tax of 12.84 percent that goes to the state Department of Revenue. Personal property tax is collected on tenant improvements to port property as well.

A grower, who declined to identify himself, said the number of active licensed growers would likely triple by June.

“Several of the ones that are coming online already have their clones growing,” he said.

Clones are cuttings from other cannabis plants.

In discussing retail space, County Commissioner Steve Rogers said the county requested that the Liquor Control Board consider allocating retail cannabis locations in North County and South County to evenly distribute the licenses, but the agency balked in favor of its lottery system. That led to the county’s two retail licenses going to retailers in Raymond and South Bend.

“They ignored us and said no,” he said. “So currently the only two retail operations are going to be about three-quarters of a mile apart, which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, but that’s the way it is.”

Sheriff Scott Johnson said deputies cannot perform blood tests for THC levels in the field. He was speaking in response to question about maximum TCH levels for drivers to be considered impaired.

“We’re going to look for an impairment just like we would on someone who’s alcohol impaired,” he said. “We’ll run them through a battery of tests before we make a decision. The blood test comes last if we already chose to make an arrest, and we wouldn’t have those results for quite some time before it went to court, so we’re not going to be making our [arrest] decision based on what the THC level is.”

Raymond Police Chief Chuck Spoor said the department anticipated no increase in costs associated with law enforcement because of the new industry. If the industry takes off and population increases, the department would have to increase its level of law enforcement to keep up the ratio of officers to citizens, he added.

He hopes sales tax and other fees accompanying the increase in cannabis businesses will help cover any increases the city will see.

Spoor said his biggest concern with the new industry is underage access to marijuana, specifically as more edibles become available. He plans to work with teachers and parent to educate them on what the products look like.

“We need to know what these things look like,” he said. “Because they can look like Gummy Bears, Gummy worms — there’s just a wide variety of things.”

Johnson echoed the concern about edibles, but so far the new industry hasn’t caused an increase in enforcement issues.

H.J. Norris, owner of Mr. Doobees, the retail marijuana store in Raymond, said sodas, caramels, truffles, cookies and lozenges are already available.

Dave Vetter, principal at Raymond High School, said he hasn’t seen an impact at the school.

“I spoke to our drug and alcohol counselor when I was invited to this forum,” he said. “She says she has not noticed an impact. The kids will talk back and forth, about … but as far as number, as far as test results, as far as her implications in her program, True North, she has not noticed anything.”

Vetter said the driving force behind new enrollment at the school has changed as a result of the cannabis industry.

“A year and a half ago when I got a new student I always asked, ‘What brought you to Raymond?’” Vetter said. “A year and a half ago eight times out of 10 the answer would have been, ‘Cheap housing.’ Now when I ask, they say, ‘Because my dad is working in the industry, or he’s a horticulturist.”

Raymond Fire Chief Todd Strozyk said the biggest increase in marijuana medical issues hasn’t come from teens.

“We have seen an increase in people who don’t have a lot of experience, or haven’t had a lot of experience with marijuana in a long time,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of Baby Boomers who, back in the 70s might have been out and partied a lot.”

They decided to get back into it now that it’s legal again, Strozyk said.

“Before the retail store was open, they were getting some marijuana-infused products, either on the medical side or on the black market, and they weren’t educated on how to use it, and they were having some medical problems. Essentially they were overdosing.”

The forum also touched on environmental concerns.

Massin said she spoke to growers who told her wastewater produced is being recycled, not dumped into the river or sewer. Waste plant material such as stems is being composted or shredded and mixed with trash and disposed in the landfill.

Mike Shults, an air quality specialist with the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency, said the agency has received no formal odor complaints about cannabis operations in Pacific County.

“We’ve gotten formal complaints in some of the other counties that we’ve dealt with, and we have a process for how we deal with that,” he said.

ORCAA suggests ways for prospective growers to reduce odors, but they are not a requirement for growers to get a permit, Shults said.

Spoor got the biggest laugh of the night when he chimed in, “I think it smells better than the fish plant.”