MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES STILL ON HOLD, FOR NOW, IN POULSBO

POULSBO - Bill Austin, owner of the Hare & Hounds pub as well as
other downtown properties, said he has licenses to sell alcohol and
tobacco - legal substances that have long been the source of
addiction, heartbreak and illness.

And yet, people like Troy Barber, sitting in the audience at
Wednesday's City Council meeting, are fighting to win people the
right to access something that can help them - medical marijuana.

The City Council decided Wednesday to keep in place its six-month
moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries, which it adopted March 16.

But when it comes time to license a medical marijuana dispensary in
Poulsbo, there could be some supporters on the council.

The council adopted the moratorium because it doesn't know what kind
of requirements the state could put on cities, such as taxation, if
one of two state bills become law.

While medical marijuana is legal in Washington and 15 other states,
there are no dispensaries in Kitsap County; Port Orchard has a
moratorium, and Bremerton has rejected two business license
applications. Poulsbo has yet to determine zoning for dispensaries.
And there are conflicts between state and federal laws.

House Bill 1550, filed Jan. 21 by state Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson,
D-Seattle, would regulate marijuana much like alcohol. Marijuana
would be sold through state liquor stores to adults age 21 and older,
sales would be taxed and the state Liquor Control Board would issue
licenses to commercial growers.

Proponents say the state would receive about $200 million in revenue
from licenses and taxes. But the federal government's Controlled
Substances Act does not recognize the difference between medical and
recreational marijuana, and some legislators say the federal
government may prevent the state from keeping the revenue.

Rep. Sherry Appleton, D-Poulsbo, is one of 14 co-sponsors of HB 1550.
The bill has not advanced since a Feb. 8 public hearing in the House
Committee on Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. A companion
bill, SB 5598, was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 31.

Mary Clare Kersten, a coordinator of Sensible Washington, which
supports the legalization of cannabis, called dispensaries "an act of
mercy" to those who need medical marijuana but have no access to it.
She said dispensaries are run like pharmacies and require
documentation not unlike a prescription. And they can dispense
medical marijuana in a form that will best benefit the patient's condition.

"It's not a stoner shop. It's a medical marijuana shop," she said.

Medical marijuana uses certain chemicals in the cannabis plant that
have been shown to have medicinal value and can be taken by capsule,
extract, spray or smoking. Medical marijuana has been used to relieve
nausea and pain, lower eye pressure in glaucoma patients, and
stimulate hunger in patients with disease-related weight loss.

Councilman David Musgrove said he voted for the moratorium so the
city would have time to figure out "how to do it right." He cited
unknowns related to location and zoning.

Councilwoman Linda Berry-Maraist said she supports the use of medical
marijuana. She said she knows people who have been helped by it and
believes people should have access to it.

Mayor Becky Erickson said the moratorium's intent was to "buy the
city some time" and that a city ordinance could be drafted after HB
1550 and SB 5598 are decided.

But Councilman Jim Henry warns that HB 1550 and SB 5598 could result
in another unfunded state mandate - the state would get revenue
generated from local dispensaries, with the responsibility for
regulating and governing put on the city