MEDICAL MARIJUANA MORATORIUM ENACTED IN WAPATO

WAPATO -- Medical marijuana gardens and dispensaries will not be
allowed in this Lower Valley town for at least six months while city
officials try to sort out legal confusion caused by a new state law.

City Council members on Monday unanimously approved the ban.

The council's move is in response to a new state law -- which
conflicts with federal law -- that allows up to 10 qualifying
patients to grow 45 plants at a collective garden for their use.

But the law has left city governing bodies scrambling on how to
regulate the collectives under local zoning ordinances.

"There's just too much confusion out there," Mayor Jesse Farias said
in a Thursday telephone interview. "It gives us time to figure out
the best way to deal with this. I think everybody is taking the same stance."

The city of Yakima imposed a similar moratorium.