Global Ganja Report

Municipalities in Washington state are maintaining bans on medicinal cannabis gardens and dispensaries, as efforts to clarify state law on this question are stalled in Olympia. A state law enacted July 22 allows for up to 10 people to grow up to 45 plants in collective gardens. But several cities—notably excluding Seattle—declared temporary bans on collective gardens, citing the need to study the impacts. Washougal's city council voted Sept. 9 to extend the six-month ban passed in July for a full year. On Sept. 14, the Sammamish city council also voted to extend its ban.

Gov. Christine Gregoire also used a line-item veto to kill provisions of the new law that would have brought dispensaries under state regulation, leaving cannabis clinics in a legal limbo. Some 75 dispensaries remain open in the Seattle area, while the 50 or so that had opened in more conservative Spokane since the 1998 state initiative that legalized medical cannabis have now closed. (Seattle Times, Sept. 18; Sammamish Review, Sept. 14; The Columbian, Sept. 9; Toke of the Town, July 22)

Photo: Themadpothead