— from Jenny Rice —
(Editor’s note: the San Juan County Council is holding a Workshop regarding Land Use Regulation of Marijuana Producers and Processors on Monday, Jan. 12 from 9 a.m. to noon in Council Chambers in Friday Harbor. Citizen access is welcome, but limited to the workshop topic only.)
I have read each and every comment regarding the consideration of cannabis as an agricultural-crop (posted in Orcas Issues‘ on Dec. 28) with hope igniting in my heart for the New Year, whatever it may bring. I have hesitated to post a comment until now due to my current position, finding myself facing lawsuits without council, and the fear that anything I say or do in public will be used against me in the court of law… which I have no doubt that it will!
Regardless, and towards whatever risk, I feel it’s time to step in to clarify that the owner of San Juan Sungrown has indeed decided to cease active operations on San Juan Island. To quote from a letter enclosed with the paychecks for the company’s employees:
“Vigorous opposition from those against marijuana production near them, or on San Juan Island period, mixed with the local business environment simply proved too much to overcome. The burden of these continuing challenges unfortunately left no other choice.”
That being said… it is my hope that this will not stop those who have taken a stance on these issues to continue to do so. It is perhaps more important now than ever that we work to protect farmers and their ability to use their farmland. We all know the Right to Farm is a slippery slope… and it’s proving to be an ongoing battle here at Fieldstone Farms as we enter 2015.
Jenny Rice is owner of Fieldstone Farms, LLC on San Juan Island which leased property to Sungrown cannabis-growing operation.
I suppose it would be best, in the interest of fairness, to close all businesses that produce something that somebody doesn’t like. That way we can all rest peacefully in the knowledge that everybody is happy. Of course unemployment would skyrocket, the county economy would be in the tank, large numbers of people wouldn’t be able to feed or house themselves. But life would be wonderful because everybody would be happy.
Yeah, right. Let me know how that works out in the long haul.
As I understand matters, one of the more important reasons cited for forcing the closure of the marijuana-growing operation on San Juan was its unpleasant smell.
Unpleasant smell? Has anyone on San Juan Island ever smelled a marijuana plantation?
Please tell me how you did that, then, because there hasn’t been a legal marijuana plantation in the U.S. since the end of World War Two.
And if you have smelled one, please explain why you didn’t immediately report it to the authorities.
An outdoor marijuana plantation has no special, discernible smell — that is, until someone sets it on fire.
This is something that I remember from my childhood, during that war to which I previously referred.
All you silly “Mrs. Grundy”s should try to remember that you lost the marijuana-prohibition war. It’s legal now. Get over it. (Dare I say that you should “slow down and smell the hemp”?)
And, no, I don’t happen to use the weed, neither medicinally nor recreationally.
I used to appreciate hempen rope, though, until it was outlawed.
Anyone driven by the cabbage fields in Skagit late in the season? Now THAT is a farming enterprise with a smell!
Time to cease all cabbage production!
We live next to the grow operation on Orcas, and I can tell you with DEFINITE certainty that it smells. It pervades the atmosphere. And it is NOT a pleasant smell. It is intense and overpowering. It is unpleasant for us to be outside, and we are outside people. I have a five year old child, and we have been working hard to make our little farm. We have roses I can’t even smell. Having a small greenhouse full of pot is one thing, but I feel like there has to be some consciousness of the smell you are putting out for miles if you are making it into a business. Now that it’s legal, and there isn’t (at least here) a worry about getting ‘busted’, it seems there is no consideration for filters or anything that might mediate the overpowering stench that pervades our lives. I am not interested in cabbage farmers in Skagit for justifying our community. This is OUR community. Let’s try to make business models that can be prosperous AND respectful to our land and our community.
I got so upset making that comment that I actually contacted my neighbors, and they are doing everything to mediate the smell. So I feel very grateful and happy that the growers are so open and addressed our concerns with immediacy and kindness. AND I apologize for getting upset without talking directly to the source first.
THANK YOU Laura Ludwig of Orcas Island, for being a good neighbor. Your comments are the best by far… because it proves that neighborly mitigation (vs. litigation) works! Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing your experience here. I wish I had neighbors as nice as you.