CHANGE IN MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW NOT MAKING GANJAPRENEURS OF KITSAP GARDEN STORES

BREMERTON -- With names like "Bud Candy," "Big Bud" and "Nirvana
Bloom," fertilizers in Kitsap Garden & Lighting's inventory suggest
they're for growing marijuana.

Not according to owner Miles Nemec, who said the products, made by
B.C.-based Advanced Nutrients, are formulated for a variety of plants.

Nemec takes the message a step further with a hard-to-miss sign at the
front counter of his Bremerton hydroponic supply store. It says his
products "are not intended for use in manufacturing, processing or
distribution of controlled substances, including cannabis," even by
card-carrying medical marijuana users.

Recently passed state legislation essentially outlaws medical
marijuana dispensaries by limiting the number of clients served to one
person every 15 days. The law does, however, allow for collective
gardens, where up to 10 people can have 15 plants each or a total of
45, whichever is fewer. That could have economic implications for
businesses that sell fertilizers, grow lamps, fans and other equipment
legitimately used for a range of gardening purposes, said attorney
Scott Snyder of the Seattle firm Ogden Murphy Wallace. Kitsap County's
garden supply stores could be poised for a bump in sales, but owners
say they're not ready to become ganjapreneurs.

The federal government, in an about-face from is 2009 stance, is
asserting its right to prosecute licensed growers -- and dispensaries --
in states with medical marijuana laws allowing them. That leaves the
growers, the businesses that support them and local governments to
sort out where they stand.

Snyder, at a recent Association of Washington Cities conference,
presented a workshop for city officials on how to weigh the legal
liabilities of medical marijuana against its potential as an industry.

"I had no idea it was so profitable," said Port Orchard Mayor Lary
Coppola, who attended Snyder's workshop. "There's an enormous amount
of economic opportunity if it were legalized. But as long as it's
still a federal crime, you're not going to see it legalized in Port
Orchard."

U.S. marijuana sales this year are estimated to be worth $1.7 billion,
according to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal. In the same
article, the CEO of Scotts Miracle-Gro indicated the fertilizer giant
might be jockeying for a piece of the blossoming medical marijuana
market.

Kitsap garden supply stores aren't so outwardly bullish on buds. Given
the disconnect between federal and state medical marijuana laws, Nemec
said he will err on the side of caution. Anyone even talking about
growing pot will be asked to leave his store.

Nemec's sense of caution was echoed at other nurseries in Kitsap
County, which are taking a don't ask, don't tell approach to what
their customers grow once they're out the door.

Rodgers Country Nursery & Gardens in Bremerton carries Dr. Earth's
POT-ing Soil and another line of fertilizers by Fox Farm, whose parent
company is a sponsor of the medical marijuana online discussion group
"Green Passion." Both are suitable for indoor containers and
hydroponic gardening, methods favored by medical cannabis producers.

"We did not bring in these products for marijuana growers," Manager
Chris Periot said. "We brought in these products because we have a
legitimate clientele who want to grow vegetables year 'round."

Periot speculates that Country Nursery could be attractive to
marijuana growers because of its organic products, but it's not
something she's ready to tout.

"It's not a clientele I'm looking for. It's not the reason I carry the
products I carry," Periot said. "We're aware that those types of
products are sought after and used by people who grow marijuana. (The
law) is going to need to be a lot more finalized and cut and dried
before I'm going to make a financial decision based on that."

Valley Nursey in Poulsbo also carries Fox Farm. Manager Terri Mitchell
said the Ocean Forest blend is popular with customers she speculates
use it to grow cannabis.

"People are still very paranoid," she said. "We can tell by what
they're asking that it's meant for a marijuana grow."

Mitchell, a proponent of medical marijuana, sympathizes with those
authorized to use the drug, who are caught in a legal gray area.

"People are willing to do what they need to do, and they want to do it
legally," she said.

Valley Nursey won't be advertising to medical marijuana growers any
time soon, Mitchell said. But the economic potential of the market is
not lost on her. Should the law become more clear, she said,
"Definitely, I think it could add to the economic health (of the county)."