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Redmond City Council Places Six-Month Moratorium On Marijuana
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Aug 2011
Source: Redmond Reporter (WA)
Copyright: 2011 Sound Publishing
Contact: http://www.redmond-reporter.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4892
Author: Samantha Park
REDMOND CITY COUNCIL PLACES SIX-MONTH MORATORIUM ON MARIJUANA COLLECTIVE
GARDENS
Following the lead of other Eastside cities, the Redmond City Council
placed a temporary ban on medical marijuana collective gardens to give
city staff time to formulate a plan for regulation and zoning.
Council members voted unanimously at Tuesday's meeting - with the
exception of Kimberly Allen, who was absent - to place a six-month
moratorium immediately on the location, establishment, licensing and
permitting of medical marijuana collective gardens.
The vote comes in response to a new amendment to a 1998 state law that
went into effect on July 22 and allows qualifying patients to produce,
grow, transport and deliver cannabis for medical use. Patients and
their providers can possess up to 15 cannabis plants and 24 ounces of
usable cannabis. The law allows up to 10 qualifying patients to
organize and form a collective cannabis garden containing up to 15
plants per person and a cap total of 45 plants.
The law also allows jurisdictions to impose a moratorium to allow city
policy makers to adopt zoning requirements for collective garden
facilities.
There will be a public hearing conducted by Redmond City Council on
Oct. 4 to give residents the opportunity to comment on the issue of
marijuana collective gardens in the city. The hearing will be at 7:30
p.m. at City Hall, located at 15670 NE 85th St., in the council
chambers.
Redmond joins Kirkland, Issaquah, Sammamish and Woodinville, who have
all placed temporary moratoriums on the gardens or are planning to do
so. Meanwhile King County, which has jurisdiction over Redmond's
surrounding unincorporated areas, is taking a wait-and-see approach.
Before moving forward with setting regulations within Redmond, Rob
Odle, the city's director of planning and community development, told
the council and mayor that they need to study the impacts such
facilities could have on the community.
"We think it's important," he said. "In order to do this, it takes
time."
The six-month moratorium gives city staff that much-needed time.
Council member and public safety committee chair Hank Myers added that
the moratorium also gives the city a legal base to work off of, so
people wanting to start collective gardens have to wait until the
moratorium is lifted. Without a moratorium, the city would not be able
to prohibit people from growing cannabis because there are no set
zoning or permitting standards, according to Myers.
As of right now, Odle said the city has not heard of any interest in
the gardens.
"We have not had any inquiries regarding collective gardens at this
point," he said.
MAKING SENSE OF IT ALL
Myers said the moratorium will also give time for city officials to
set standards on enforcement of the hazy state law.
Federal law deems marijuana, even for medical use, illegal and in
states such as Washington, where medical marijuana is legal, many
cities are confused about what this means for them.
Washington Initiative 692, which was passed in 1998, allows people
with certain medical conditions to possess a 60-day supply of
marijuana, which is 15 plants or 24 ounces of cultivated cannabis,
according to the state Department of Health. Under the law, physicians
can recommend, but not prescribe, medical marijuana for patients.
In order to clarify, state legislators created a bill that made major
reforms to the state's medical marijuana law during the regular
legislative session earlier this year.
The legislation set clearer regulations and established a licensing
system and patient registry to protect qualifying patients, doctors
and providers from criminal prosecution.
But Gov. Chris Gregoire vetoed portions of the bill regarding
dispensaries and producers, but allowed collective gardens, as well as
a provision for a patient registry under the Department of Health.
Gregoire's reason for the veto is her concern for state workers who
could be prosecuted under federal law.
Redmond's moratorium doesn't change the state law - qualified patients
can still produce marijuana - but it does allow the city time to plan
regulations of medical marijuana.
Meanwhile, the King County Prosecutor's Office is "going to take cases
police bring (them)" and determine if the accused is "living by the
spirit of the law or are they stretching it," according to spokesman
Ian Goodhew.
King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg will not prosecute "legitimate
patients who qualify under the law if they reasonably adhere to the
dictates of the statute," according to a 2007 policy adopted by the
prosecutor's office.
SEVERAL LAYERS
Myers said the use of collective marijuana gardens is multi-layered.
At the end of May, he attended a conference for the Association of
Washington Cities and sat in on a seminar on the topic and said many
cities, including Redmond, have similar concerns as the governor
because legalizing marijuana goes further than whether you're for or
against the drug.
"There are a lot of ramifications that aren't on the surface that we'd
like to take a look at," he said.
The moratorium is also an opportunity for Redmond to see how other
cities are approaching the issue.
Myers said the city also has to think about how collective gardens
could affect public safety. He called marijuana a high-value drug and
cited home invasions in Kirkland where marijuana was grown as reasons
to be concerned about home and neighborhood security.
Odle said these public safety issues are another reason for the
moratorium and for the city to study all of the possible effects
collective gardens can have in Redmond.
COUNTY NOT CRACKING DOWN - FOR NOW
While surrounding cities are placing moratoriums on collective
marijuana gardens, King County has yet to take action, according to
county council member Kathy Lambert, who represents Redmond.
"It's under advisement," she said. "We're still determining what to
do."
This means medical-marijuana opeations in unicorporated areas of the
county, such as The Kind Alternative Medical Collective, a nonprofit
collective in Preston, can continue with its operations.
Goodhew said he has not heard of any formal moratorium or legislation
proposal from county officials concerning medical marijuana.
For now, Goodhew said the county is taking a "wait-and-see approach"
to regulating the collective gardens.
As for Redmond, city staff wanted to create time to form regulations
while protecting against litigation with its moratorium, according to
council member David Carson.
"The water is very muddy for what the state has done," he said. "It's
not clear at all. (The moratorium) is a way of protecting the city
from litigation and we don't want to be on the tip of the spear to see
what happens with this."
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