Cowlitz PUD Tries Deny Electricity to Marijuana Businesses

Like so many local city & county governments, the Cowlitz PUD commissioners are proposing to the board members that the company implement a preposterous proposal. The People’s Utility District of Cowlitz County is trying to shut of electrical power to any and all marijuana businesses that don’t meet the state standards. Although, I personally agree that all companies should be required to follow all state & local laws, policies, & guidelines, I disagree that marijuana businesses should be targeted.

A dear friend of mine asked a question after I posted this article on my Facebook wall. She asked, “Did they pull the plug on All-Out Sewer and Drain? Will they quit serving other businesses found to be in violation of state/federal laws? A Daily News search for "department of ecology fines" turned up 100+ results (some duplicates, not all local) so it's worth asking.” I happen to agree that this subject should be broached before the next meeting to be held on *Tuesday, June 24, 2014.

The issue of All-Out Sewer and Drain is a hot topic in my county. Ray Caldwell, the company’s owner, was sentenced to 27 months in prison & fined $250,000 after found “guilty on 33 felony counts related to years of illegally emptying his septic tank pumper trucks into the Longview sewer system in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.” Basically, the final outcome was when the US District Court Judge Benjamin Settle ordered the owner of the company to pay $636,000 for restitution. I pose the question, “why wasn’t this guy’s electricity cut off?” He definitely wasn’t meeting the standards of any government, & yet, he was allowed electricity. If the Cowlitz PUD passes this proposal it’ll just cause pot businesses to go underground again.

What about the meth labs? What about abusive people? What about offenders of violent crimes? What about a restaurant owner getting a DUI in front of his establishment while filming Hotel Hell, with Chef Gordon Ramsey. I mean, really! This guy blatantly drives while intoxicated (not his first offense, BTW), parks in front of The Monticello Hotel, & gets a ticket for DUI. Did the PUD decide to cut off his power as he was in a definite violation of the law? Nope. There are far too many more examples to present, but if you perform a search in almost any search engine, you will find that there are hundreds of cases, in Cowlitz County alone.

Part of me wants to dare them to implement this proposal. Let me explain why. If you give a smoker of marijuana all the pot he/she wants, leave them with only the pot & a lighter with no method of smoking. Do you seriously not know the outcome? Pot heads become engineers when it comes to their marijuana. Now, imagine taking that imagination & initiative on a larger scale. If you take electricity from marijuana businesses, they’ll get creative & join stronger forces to use alternative energy. Are you imagining this on that larger scale, yet? And that’s only the beginning. However, I’ve learned not to dare public officials; they tend to bully till they get their way. I will encourage everyone that agrees that this is wrong to attend the next *meeting at the PUD building.

*The Cowlitz PUD Board of Commissioners meets on the second and fourth Tuesday each month in the John Searing Auditorium at the PUD at 961 12^th Avenue.