Officials in Washington state report they are dealing with bogus applications submitted for recreational marijuana businesses.
Some of the business applicants on the North Olympic Peninsula have been submitted with fake names and addresses, said Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict.
Benedict did not say how many false licenses applications had been submitted, but called the bogus applications “foolish.”
Businesses hoping to obtain a recreational license in Washington had to submit their applications by December 20, 2013. Each application carried a non-refundable $250 fee.
As of January 7, the Liquor Control Board had sifted through 6,618 applications for recreational marijuana businesses, more than seven times greater than the number state officials said were submitted during the first week.
The state will allow 334 retail shops and an uncapped number of recreational cultivators and marijuana processors under the recreational marijuana law, I-502. The state will issue licenses to cultivators in February; however it will not finalize its licenses for retail centers until June.
The onus is on the Liquor Control Board to verify the legitimacy of each applicant. The agency will do background checks on each applicant to make sure the owners are Washington State residents. Businesses must also show that their proposed real estate is within the zoning laws for recreational businesses. The agency, however, has not commented on the accusation of phony business applications.
