Editor’s note: The Islands’ Weekly maintains that the facts (not quotes) provided in the story are accurate based on information provided by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board.

I’m very disappointed that our local newspaper printed an article before checking the facts. A simple call to the Liquor and Cannabis Control Board would have revealed that Mr. Bentitou’s Lopez Sound Road property would only support a single cannabis grow-op since his lot cannot be subdivided. “Three proposed farms on Lopez” were never an option.

There was also conjecture about excessive water use. Marijuana does not use any more water than most other agricultural crops. Marijuana is not an aquatic plant! All of the water usage figures quoted by the Say No Lopez group came from articles written from hot-dry California climates. Water is a sensitive issue here, but the Department of Ecology has jurisdiction over water use, not neighbors. As to the size of operations, a tier 3 grow-op is approximately ¾ of an acre.

Making regulations based on fear and misinformation will lead to bad regulations.

Denise Clark

Lopez Island