Wash. state faces prospect of too many marijuana growers

SEATTLE – Washington state could be facing a curious economics problem: too many pot growers.

More than 2,600 applications have been submitted to produce the marijuana that will be sold at state-licensed stores when Washington's legal marijuana industry opens for business this year.

That's a problem because officials are capping total pot production at 2 million square feet. It remains to be seen how many applications are approved, but if it's even close to the number submitted, that could leave growers with less than 1,000 square feet apiece -- not enough space for most to run an economically viable operation.

State officials say they aren't concerned since at least some of the applications are expected to be rejected.

But the author of the legal marijuana law says officials should consider raising the production cap.