Snohomish County considers ban on medical marijuana gardens

Snohomish County leaders are pondering a temporary ban on collective marijuana gardens, following a step that several local cities have taken.

County Executive Aaron Reardon sent a memo to the County Council last week asking for a yearlong moratorium. Some council members aren’t so sure that’s the best legal course for the county to take. They’re planning to seek advice from county attorneys about what to do, possibly in a closed-door session as early as today.

A new state law that took effect Friday allows qualified patients to band together to grow the pot patches. The drug remains illegal under federal law, though. The conflict between state and federal law has some council members worried.

“This is an issue we’d prefer not to get in the middle of,” Councilman Dave Gossett said.

At a meeting earlier this week, Council Chairman Dave Somers made the same point, noting that the county might face the same tough decisions when the moratorium expires. He added that state law doesn’t allow counties or cities to prohibit the collective gardens, only to regulate them.

Any county action on the issue would affect unincorporated areas.

In his July 19 memo, Reardon argued that a temporary freeze would allow staff to make decisions about where to allow the gardens and how to manage them. The pause would also give the county a chance to gauge public sentiment and to consider possible effects on surrounding communities.

“Without a moratorium, collective gardens would be unregulated under existing County land-use code,” Reardon wrote. “It is in the interest of the public’s health, safety and welfare that regulations for such uses be studied and considered.”

The 12-month wait also creates an opportunity for state lawmakers, when they reconvene next year, to make changes to the current law, which Reardon called “broken legislation that promotes or allows a breach of federal law.”

The county must schedule a public hearing before any moratorium takes effect or within 60 days after its enactment.

The state law allows qualified patients to form collective gardens to grow marijuana for their medical use. Up to 10 patients can create a single garden and harvest up to 45 plants and 4½ pounds — or two kilos — of usable cannabis.

Gov. Chris Gregoire vetoed much of the original legislation in April. She got rid of sections that called for the state departments of health and agriculture to authorize and license commercial cannabis dispensaries.

“These sections would open public employees to federal prosecution, and the United States Attorneys have made it clear that state law would not provide these individuals safe harbor from federal prosecution,” Gregoire wrote. “No state employee should be required to violate federal criminal law in order to fulfill duties under state law.”

What was left of the legislation, she said, would allow qualified patients and designated providers to “evaluate the risk of federal prosecution” to decide “whether to use or assist another in using medical marijuana.”

That left it up to cities and counties to weigh any potential consequences.

City leaders in Everett, Marysville, Lake Stevens and Snohomish have responded by placing temporary bans on the gardens, as they try to hash out the final rules. Mukilteo also considered a moratorium, but it failed to pass.

Before Everett’s vote last week, City Council members heard 45 minutes of testimony from people who told them collective gardens would help them get medical marijuana legally and safely. Nobody spoke in favor of the moratorium.

Concerns that city staff wanted to address included how the gardens would affect traffic, zoning, chemicals and public safety. The ban would not affect patients’ ability to grow their own.

The U.S. government classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug with a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use. That puts it on par, in the feds’ eyes, with hallucinogens such as PCP and peyote.

The American Medical Association has asked the U.S. government to review that classification to allow for more research on cannabis-based medicines. The association did not call for the drug’s legalization. Some medical professionals accept pot as a valid treatment for managing pain and stimulating appetite, among other conditions.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com.