According to the Washington State Liquor Control Board,  pot licenses will start to be issued in July.

The Sky Valley Chronicle, which serves an area near Monroe, Skykomish, Snohomish, Stevens Pass and surrounding areas, reported Friday  the state has limited the total number of pot stores to 334.

The largest cities are allowed the biggest number of stores, the rest are allotted to "at-large" locations around the county.   What's interesting, though, is that in cities and counties where there have been more "qualified" applicants than the number of stores available, a double-blind lottery will be used for the selection process.

The Liquor Control Board utilized research data and assistance from Washington State University, and the accounting firm that handles the Washington State Lottery to create the process.

The lottery process will take place April 21-25th, with all successful applicants being announced after that.

Liquor Control Board officials noted that between 20-50% of the application packets were incomplete, or the interested parties didn't return all the required.  Some 25% of those who submitted a letter of interest to the state never returned any of the information.

The state has also announced 8 growers have been officially licensed, and once the process takes off, they will begin growing marijuana.   They include O2 Sun in Benton City.  So far, they are the only Tri-Cities/Mid-Columbia licensed grower. Two others have been approved in the Spokane area, the rest are on the West Side.

The state did not release any information about other potential growers or licensees.

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