NORTH BEND IMPOSES ONE-YEAR BAN ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA FACILITIES

The North Bend City Council has banned medical marijuana dispensaries
in the city's limits for one year.

Concerns about the state law's large gray areas, especially regarding
production and distribution of medical marijuana, prompted the city's
administration to recommend the ban.

But under a state law passed in May, Washington cities might not be
able to ban patient gardens.

The council unanimously voted at its June 7 meeting to adopt an
ordinance banning the opening or operation of any medical marijuana
dispensary for one year under the city's emergency clause. A public
hearing on the ban is scheduled for July 19.

Currently, the closest medical marijuana dispensary for Snoqualmie
Valley patients is The Kind Alternative in Preston.

Like many cities, North Bend's administration had been looking to the
state Legislature to clarify the state's medical marijuana laws during
its last session. But that effort failed when Gov. Chris Gregoire
vetoed parts of a bill passed by the Legislature this spring.

The current law leaves too much gray area for providers and users,
according to medical marijuana advocates and law enforcement officials.

Since Olympia failed to clarify the law, a moratorium in North Bend
would give the city time to determine its position, City Administrator
Duncan Wilson said.

"We don't have any guidance right now as to what is or isn't legal,
and where they should be," Wilson said.

After receiving two inquiries about opening a dispensary in North
Bend, the city's administration decided to act before anyone filed for
a business permit, he said. Washington cities have handled the law's
vagueness in varying ways. Some cities, including Tacoma and Seattle,
have let dispensaries operate. Other cities, including Shoreline,
Federal Way and Lake Forest Park, have tried to shut down dispensaries
in civil court.

"The state law is vague, the state law is in conflict with federal law
and cities are caught in the middle," North Bend Councilman Dave Cook
said.

The City Council is required to develop a work plan to get the city
out of any moratorium it passes.

Washington voters backed a vaguely worded initiative in 1998 to allow
medical marijuana. The state Department of Health clarified in 2007
how much marijuana patients can have.

With the law's broad gray areas, law enforcement's approach to medical
marijuana across Washington varies by county. King County has followed
the spirit of the law, according to King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.

In an effort to make law enforcement's approach more consistent across
Washington, state Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, introduced
legislation this spring that included giving patients more protection
from arrest, and setting up a registry of dispensaries and patients.

Using a line-item veto, Gregoire nullified parts of the final bill
that required government oversight -- and taxpayer money.

Among the reasons she expressed in public statements, Gregoire said
she wanted to protect state employees from federal prosecution. The
federal government does not recognize medical marijuana.

That concern was among the several listed in the city's
ordinance.

Olympia's failure to clarify the law could make it more difficult for
authorized patients to get medicine, said Doug Honig, spokesman for
the Washington chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Local bans "point to the weakness in the state law that the state
needs to step up to the plate and resolve," Honig said. "Without that,
you're going to see governments passing more bans or more raids."

But cities might not be able to ban gardens for growing medical
marijuana, which are permitted under the law Gregoire signed, which
goes into effect July 22, said Ian Goodhew, a spokesman for the King
County Prosecutor's Office.

The law allows cities and counties to zone "collective gardens," which
can consist of up to 10 authorized patients.

The North Bend ordinance bans dispensaries, and facilities for the
production and processing of medical marijuana.