The City of Battle Ground is among several Clark County cities whose officials have decided to implement a moratorium prohibiting collective medical marijuana gardens. Most cities currently have the moratorium in effect for six months, while the County currently has one in effect for one year.
On April 29, Gov. Chris Gregoire approved several selections of Senate Bill 5073, which provides additional state law protections for the use of medical marijuana. In addition, the law also protects designated health providers and heath care professionals from prosecution.
However, federal law still does not recognize the difference between medical and recreational use of marijuana and still considers its use, possession and distribution illegal.
The new law allows up to 10 qualifying patients to create and maintain a collective garden for growing, processing, transporting and delivering marijuana for medical use. The garden may not have more than 15 plants per patient, up to a total of 45 plants and can’t contain more than 24 ounces of usable marijuana per patient.
The state law also gives cities and counties the authority to establish zoning regulations for the gardens, but not to outright ban them. The law went into effect July 22, but officials from the County and several cities voted to put an emergency moratorium in place before that date.
On Aug. 16, Clark County commissioners voted to extend their six-month moratorium to one year, after which it can be extended again if necessary.
During the Aug. 15 Battle Ground City Council meeting, council members voted to extend the moratorium to six months in order to allow for more time to discuss the issue. Robert Maul, community development director, told the council that if they did not extend the ban and it expired, if someone who had a medical marijuana card came to them wanting to get a permit for a collective garden, City staff would be required to start the permitting process.
Alex Reinhold, council member, said he feels there is a lot of nonsense involved in the law that isn’t clear and that six months isn’t going to be enough time for City officials to figure out zoning and other issues.
"My main concern is security," Reinhold said. "If you have 40 something plants growing somewhere, there’s going to be some people thinking that’s some stuff they can take and sell for themselves."
Brian Wolfe, City attorney, said his main concern is the safety of City staff.
"This legislation is not going to protect local employees if they get involved in the permitting process," Wolfe said. "If the federal government thinks someone who is admitting a permit is enabling the growing, those people will get nailed."
Other cities that have implemented six-month bans include La Center, Vancouver, Camas and Washougal. Ridgefield, Woodland and Yacolt have not yet implemented any sort of ban specifically directed at the new medical marijuana law. Cindy Marbut, Yacolt town clerk, said the issue is on the Town’s Sept. 6 council meeting agenda.
Mari Ripp, Woodland clerk-treasurer, said although the City does not have an ordinance specifically banning the gardens, there is an ordinance in place that states that anyone who applies for a business permit in the City must comply with all state and federal laws. She said this should protect the City.
Justin Clary, Ridgefield city manager, said City officials in Ridgefield are considering a temporary moratorium on the collective gardens issue that is similar to what other jurisdictions have adopted. However, he said a date hasn’t been set yet for when officials will hold a public hearing on the issue and when it will be considered by the council.
Jim Irish, mayor of La Center, said City officials were given a book detailing the new law in which Gov. Gregoire had vetoed much of the information. He said they were essentially left with an introduction, a conclusion and about one chapter, with all the instruction and guidance taken out.
"We thought it was best to put a moratorium in place until we get directions from the legislature and/or the federal government," Irish said. "I believe there are people out there who have the need for medical marijuana and I don’t want them to be taken advantage of by someone who wants to make a quick buck or run a foul of the law. I’m trying to protect the City and protect those in medical need."
Law enforcement personnel are also worried about the potential increase of marijuana-related crimes and how they would enforce new laws related to medical marijuana.
Bob Richardson, Battle Ground chief of police, said the major issues for collective gardens from a law enforcement perspective include security to prevent the theft of plants; keeping the peace when there are disagreements as to whose plants belong to which group; police response to the theft of marijuana plants; police response to the vandalism or destruction of plants by people who don’t condone the marijuana laws; and enforcement if too many plants are being grown, such as who are the collective members and who gets prosecuted.
The cities and county will use the time during the moratorium to do research into how zoning will work for the collective gardens and develop guidelines. The bans may be extended by six month increments every six months.
