WAPATO EYES MORATORIUM ON MEDICAL POT DISPENSARIES

WAPATO, Wash. -- Unsure about a new state law allowing medical
marijuana dispensaries, Wapato officials are contemplating whether to
devise a plan to regulate such operations or ban them all together.

Meanwhile, Mayor Jesse Farias wants to put a six-month moratorium on
dispensaries to give the City Council time to research the matter and
make a permanent decision for this rural city of about 4,555 residents.

A new state law -- which is in conflict with federal law -- has left
city governing bodies scrambling to make a plan. The state law allows
up to 10 qualifying patients to grow 45 plants at a collective garden
for their own use.

"It's such a new area for everybody throughout the state," Farias
said. "We're trying to figure out what to do here."

City Council members got their first look at the proposed moratorium
Monday night during a regular council meeting, but didn't vote on the
measure.

It's unclear whether the City Council will vote on the measure at its
next regular meeting Aug. 15, Farias said.

Wapato isn't the only town grappling with the new law.

Last month, the city of Yakima imposed a six-month moratorium against
such operations and several other cities across the state are
considering similar measures.

But the issue isn't unique to Washington.

State officials in Arizona, where a voter-approved initiative led to
the legalization of medical marijuana, are suing the U.S. Justice
Department in hopes of getting a federal judge to rule on whether the
state's law safeguards it from federal prosecution or is preempted by
federal law.

And in Rhode Island, Gov. Lincoln Chafee has suspended plans to
license three marijuana dispensaries after a U.S. attorney warned that
the dispensaries could face prosecution for violating federal law.