Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
DAYTON - Anyone hoping to buy, sell or grow pot in the Touchet Valley area under Washington state's new law legalizing marijuana, may have to wait a while.
Walla Walla and Columbia counties, whose voters opposed Initiative 502 last year, are drafting ordinances placing a moratorium on such activities until the state's Liquor Control Board has its act together and the rules are clear.
And while those ordinances apply only to unincorporated parts of the two counties, their cities are making similar moves to put local implementation of the new law on hold.
"It keeps (current) processes in place while we're figuring out how to implement the rules and regulations of the new initiative," said Columbia County Sheriff
Rocky Miller, who helped lead an effort to get an ordinance on the books. "We're taking a time out because we don't want to make decisions we'd just have to undo later."
Commissioners in both counties are weighing the pros and cons of placing a temporary ban on pot businesses. Residents from both counties who are interested in being heard on the matter can do so at public meetings scheduled next week.
Walla Walla County commissioners are continuing a hearing started last week on Monday, Sept. 16, at 10 a.m., while Columbia County commissioners have set Wednesday, Sept. 18 at 2 p.m. as the date to discuss a draft ordinance prepared by Columbia County Prosecutor Rea Culwell.
Initiative 502, which was passed by a majority of voters in the state last year, authorizes the state liquor control board to regulate and tax marijuana for adults and add a new threshold for driving under the influence of pot. It also authorized the liquor board to license marijuana producers and retailers in Washington.
Although the provi- sions of the state's law are technically a violation of federal law, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder earlier this month said the Justice Department will not sue Washington and Colorado for pre-empting the country's Controlled Substances Act, providing the states strictly enforce their own laws and meet eight fed- eral conditions, including the prevention of pot crossing state borders, not allowing unregulated cannabis com- merce and banning access to minors.
Holder didn't tell the two states they couldn't allow and regulate pot farms, allow wholesale marijuana distribution or let residents buy pot at local storefronts.
But state law allows local jurisdictions to adopt zoning requirements, business license requirements, health and safety requirements, and impose business taxes on "production, processing and dispensing of marijuana or marijuana products."
"The county intends to study the land use and other impacts of the production, processing and retail sales of marijuana, and the cultiva- tion of marijuana, collective gardens and dispensaries associated with medical marijuana, prior to develop- ing any appropriate public health, safety and welfare requirements and land uses related to marijuana activi- ties," according to Columbia County's draft ordinance, which sets the moratorium at one year.
During the moratorium, pot production, processing or retailing "shall not be permitted" and the county will reject project permits for "a structure or use or for the operation of property for the use" by a marijuana producer, processor or retailer, according to the draft.
A draft ordinance in the works for Walla Walla Coun- ty is expected to have similar language.
"This whole thing is so new," said Walla Walla County Commissioner Perry Dozier, who indicated he did not support the state initiative. "A moratorium doesn't ban it. It gives us an oppor- tunity to look at how we're going to handle it."
About 60 percent of Walla Walla County voters op- posed Initiative 502 last year, while 54 percent of Colum- bia County voters filled out their ballots against it. Now, local lawmakers are faced with state regulators who have decided to allow four retail outlets in Walla Walla County (two in cities and two in unincorporated parts of the county) and one in Columbia County, according to the liquor board's website.
"It's an interesting posi- tion to be in," said Dozier, who wants to make sure commissioners know and understand the potential impact of the new state rules and regulations on their com- munities.
And although he and other Walla Walla County com- missioners have successfully regulated other new indus- tries such as wineries and B&Bs, the pot business is completely different because it's never been legal before.
"There are a lot of issues that come along with it," he said.
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