Pure Joy: It's no longer your father's marijuana

(Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part series on Cheney's marijuana manufacturing business, Pure Joy.)

Anecdotal evidence might tell those who enjoy recreational marijuana in the state of Washington that it's certainly not their dad's - or grandfather's - pot any longer.

Proof of that is seen once behind the heavily secured doors and inside the very high tech marijuana production facility in Cheney operated by Pure Joy.

Located in the city's industrial park west of town along State Route 904, Pure Joy opened the doors in May 2015. It was the endeavor of former Eastern Washington University professor, Bill Youngs and his brother, Chris.

Pure Joy is one of about a half-dozen growing operations on the West Plains. "We are the only one in Cheney itself," Bill's son, Ted Youngs said. There are about 1,000 grow licenses in the state and Youngs estimates "It's low hundreds," in Spokane County.

"There are a lot of people in the industry," he said.

Establishment of what Youngs called this high-tech factory came after state voters passed I-502 with nearly a 60-percent approval in November 2013, and recreational marijuana became officially legal in July 2014.

But a lot of the success at growing and manufacturing products at the wholesale level for sale across the state harkens back in some ways to the old days.

Whether it is admitted or not, at some point, some of the background necessary to be a successful grower, has come from doing it illegally, Youngs said.

"That's what makes them really talented at what they do," Youngs said of people who know the plants.

The other plus about the industry coming out of the black market, Youngs said, is that people who have had what he called, "A huge passion for this activity, and are good at it, can now come out and do it in the light of day," and not suffer the consequences associated with growing illegally.

As a Tier-2 grower, Pure Joy is limited to a maximum of 10,000 square feet.

Their facility is dedicated in large part to the grow operation, all taking place in a carefully controlled environment.

A sophisticated water-filtration system is critical to the process - and the end product. "There's stuff that gets pulled out, there's stuff that gets put in," Youngs explained.

"What you are trying to do is tune as perfectly as possible the nutrient mix, the level of acidity in the water," Youngs said.

He pointed to boxes on the wall that contained Co2 generators.

"We're trying to push it to a higher level of Co2 in the ambient air so it's more like a rain forest and there's more photosynthesis going on," Youngs said. What they attempt to do is fool the plants into thinking, "They are in the perfect place and I'm going to flourish," Youngs said.

There is a lot of science involved where even tweaks to air circulation, more light and Co2 can make a difference in the end product.

That product consists of both "smokeables," and "edibles," the former making up about 75 percent of their sales. Edibles are a niche part of the overall business with about 8 percent statewide, Youngs said.

Another product is vape pens, which allows a customer to smoke without inhaling smoke. "Smoking the vaporized air is like an E-cigarette, similar intake but with cannabis," Youngs explained. That's about 15 – 20 percent of their market.

Also very much controlled is the quality of the end product.

Unlike wine tasting, there is no human element in testing marijuana. That job it left to testing labs across the state.

"We use a group in Redmond called Confidence," Youngs said. They chose the company because of price and offering a delivery service. A driver comes by to pick up samples to extend strict security once outside the walls of Pure Joy.

Pure Joy's 5,000 square-foot grow area has rows of varying species of plants. The product seen on a recent tour was flowering, Youngs said. And like varietals of grapes in wine, marijuana has its own.

Currently there were four different strains growing and included, Medusa, Bubba Kush, Chocolope and Dynachem.

"There are actually three phases of the growth cycle," he said. "One is where you are cloning the plant; you're taking cuttings from mother plants, putting them in rock wool and letting them sit and grow a while," Youngs said.

From there, the process moves to a vegetative state where plants receive light 24 hours a day for 3-4 weeks to let them grow. When they reach a certain height the plants move to the flowering room. That's an eight or nine week stay.

After that the plants are chopped down, the leaves removed and then the plants are cured 7-10 days before finally being ready for market.

Waste is weighed, properly marked and disposed of, again, in a very regulated manner.

Youngs contends some of the hoops seem like "overkill," but is a good thing he said of the measures they take.

With rumblings that the current administration of President Donald Trump may crack down on states that have legalized both recreational and medical marijuana - still considered a Schedule 1 narcotic - Youngs wants to make sure they are the poster child for the good the industry does.

The state collects 37 percent of all marijuana sales and that excise tax has grown from a mere $16 million in 2014 to $256 million in 2016 and is anticipated to spiral upward in the near future. In three years the state has collected over $400 million that is in turn distributed to municipalities.

(Next week we look more closely at the products produced by Pure Joy, and where the future lies with recreational marijuana.)

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].