Local cultivators of medical marijuana and their ailing customers were dealt yet another blow Monday evening when the Chehalis City Council passed an emergency moratorium on medical marijuana gardens. The vote followed both the city of Centralia and Lewis County, who have already passed similar moratoriums.
But unlike the Centralia council meeting two weeks ago, where a handful of medical marijuana advocates demonstrated outside city hall before coming inside to testify, no citizens were on hand to offer the Chehalis council their views on the subject.
“We want to make sure we have proposed zoning that will protect citizens,” City Attorney Bill Hillier said when he presented the proposed moratorium to the council.
The moratorium required both the declaration of an emergency and the suspension of council rules to pass the measure on first reading. The reason for the emergency? To keep people from circumventing the moratorium between the first reading, when a proposed ordinance is initially presented to councilors for consideration, and the second reading, when it is normally enacted. Without suspending the rules and passing the moratorium on first reading, a marijuana gardener could feasibly apply to start a marijuana garden, which could put the city in a bind — doing so wouldn’t be against state law, but the city has no code on the books regulating them.
“Clearly the reason for declaring an emergency is, if it was on for simply on first reading, we didn’t want someone to race in between the two readings and create a problem,” Hillier said.
The moratorium was in reaction to legislation enacted during this year’s legislative session that would have created a system of state-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries, which had been popping up all over the state and Lewis County. The bill was partially vetoed by Gov. Chris Greqoire in reaction to a warning by federal authorities that state employees involved in regulating the substance, even for medical use, could be subject to arrest and prosecution under federal law for doing so. The result was a gutted bill that left a section regarding medical marijuana garden cultivation intact — and unregulated — by the state.
The new law instead passed the task of regulation to local city and county governments. The toned-down law went into effect July 22. It allows 10 people to grow up to 45 marijuana plants at one garden site. The garden property can contain no more than 24 ounces of usable cannabis or 15 plants per patient.
The issue is one that Hillier said was likely to come up again in the next legislative session.
“It’s clear from the information that we’re getting from the state that it’s on the minds of all of the state legislators,” Hillier told the council. “And that they’re working between session to address the confusion that has been brought before all the cities with regard to the distinctions between federal law and state law, and the application of the state law that is currently in place.”
Hillier felt the city moratorium would allow the Legislature to act during the moratorium period, “then we’ll know which way it’s going to be resolved.”
In the meantime, the city “rest on its laurels,” doing nothing. Both he and Police Chief Glenn Schaffer would report to the council on the issue, including proposed zoning and garden locations near facilities such as schools. The moratorium helps buffer public safety from the issue as it unfolds and the local and state level.
The six-month moratorium could be extended by the council later, according to Hillier.
The council, absent Councilor Bob Spahr, voted unanimously in favor of the moratorium, which went into effect immediately.
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Lee Hughes: (360) 807-8239
