Pubdate: Wed, 10 Aug 2011 Source: Snohomish County Tribune (WA) Copyright: 2011 Mach Publishing Contact: http://www.snoho.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5356 Author: Michael Whitney CITY ADOPTS EMERGENCY RULES FOR COLLECTIVE POT GARDENS MUKILTEO - Medical marijuana supporters say the city took the right step last week when it adopted interim zoning rules permitting collective gardens in certain parts of the city, and two providers are already operating in town. Mukilteo bucked a countywide trend of temporarily banning medical marijuana collective gardens shortly before new state rules allowing the gardens went into effect July 22. The state law allows up to 10 patients to collectively grow up to 45 plants per garden. The Mukilteo City Council voted 5-2 Aug. 1 to adopt emergency zoning rules that allow the gardens in a strip of light industrial land, primarily around Cyrus Way. The gardens must be 500 feet from schools and other gardens, among other rules. (The emergency ordinance and zoning map can be found on the city's website under the link for the City Council's Aug. 1 agenda.) The city has scheduled a public hearing Sept. 6 on the rules. The two medical marijuana providers operating now in Mukilteo were grandfathered in and do not have to be located in the established zoning, planning director Heather McCartney said last week. As of last week, two other providers have approached the city. One, Medical Marijuana Patients Network, opened to a large base of members late last week along the Mukilteo Speedway. Owner Jeremy Kelsey moved his co-op from Everett. "We are open four months only to have the rug pulled from under us," Kelsey said. Everett was one of a number of cities in Snohomish County to adopt moratoriums on collective gardens before the state law went into effect. Kelsey said he served about 1,100 patients before closing his north Everett co-op. He said he plans to establish rotating memberships so he can still serve the numerous people in need of medicinal marijuana. "Once they walk out the door for the day, they're no longer a member," he said. Kelsey's co-op was the only one to hold a business license in Everett. Kelsey said he spent thousands of dollars and nine months preparing the facility at 2212 Broadway before the city gave him a license. Kelsey said Everett did not work fast enough to figure out the state's revised medical marijuana laws, instead passing a moratorium at the last minute. The city adopted a year-long moratorium on July 20, two days before the state law took effect. The law, though, was signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire in April. The city said it needed more time to figure out how the law works and potential impacts. "No one was doing anything," Kelsey said, calling it negligence. "We have terminally ill people who can't get medicine in Everett." He could fight Everett on the moratorium, but he doesn't have the money or interest, he said. He does, though, have lawyers looking into the city's laws, he said. There are no medical marijuana providers operating in Everett after the moratorium took effect, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said last week. Outside Seattle, medical marijuana hard to get It was already difficult to get medical marijuana in Snohomish County before cities began rushing to adopt moratoriums. The cities of Seattle and Shoreline are the closest cities openly allowing medical marijuana providers. Comparing Snohomish County to King County in terms of the availability of medical marijuana is "like night and day right now, especially right now" with the moratoriums, said Philip Dawdy of the Washington Cannabis Association. Dawdy helped write the state's new law, which was significantly gutted by Gregoire's partial veto of the bill. The intention was to legalize dispensaries, which is a growing industry currently operating in a gray area of the law, but the governor's veto outlawed them. In Seattle, more than 48 dispensaries operate with a city business license. In response to the new state law that outlawed dispensaries, the city of Seattle adopted an ordinance allowing them to essentially remain under certain rules. Kelsey and his wife both use medical marijuana. He opened the network after finding there were no medical marijuana providers north of Seattle. Kelsey's wife uses marijuana to help ease severe migraine headaches. Before, she was taking morphine. Kelsey uses marijuana for stomach issues including nausea and vomiting. "It was my mission to bring this up north," Kelsey said. Most medical marijuana providers who spoke to the Tribune would only speak anonymously. "Think about the patients driving to Seattle in excruciating pain. How fair is that," one former medical marijuana provider said. If people can't make it to Seattle, they're forced to look for marijuana illegally on the black market, another former provider from Everett said. The governor's veto outlawed storefront dispensaries, but it left in place collective gardens. The governor should have vetoed the whole bill instead of vetoing sections, Dawdy said. "She screwed this up. You can quote me on this," he said. Mukilteo's rules Mukilteo attempted to pass an emergency moratorium Monday, July 18 but it failed 4-3. It needed a supermajority of five votes to pass. Some council members said implementing emergency zoning rules was the best option after the moratorium failed. A moratorium now would be "closing the barn door after the horse is out the door," Councilman Randy Lord said. The council discussion shifted from establishing zoning rules over time to an emergency in need of action that night. Councilman Tony Tinsley and Councilwoman Jennifer Gregerson voted no because they said the issue is not an emergency. Councilwoman Emily Vanderwielen, who voted for a moratorium at the July 18 meeting, wrote that the emergency zoning protects the city. "It is imperative that the city protect its legal rights as growing, distributing or selling marijuana is still an illegal activity under Federal law. This has become a State and Federal law conflict and puts the city in jeopardy of lawsuits by those who want to operate their gardens here," Vanderwielen wrote in an e-mail. "Though I wanted a moratorium, I will have to settle at this time for the ordinance which at least provides some form of protection and time for our city staff to investigate land use regulations and legal ramifications of cannabis gardens," she added. Mukilteo Police Chief Rex Caldwell called medical marijuana "strictly a land use issue." The city will hold a public hearing Sept. 6 on the emergency law, and it also will hold a council workshop Oct. 10. The emergency zoning rules last for six months. A final ordinance goes to the council Dec. 19, McCartney said. In addition to Everett, the cities of Snohomish, Lake Stevens, Marysville and Sultan have adopted moratoriums. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt