The city of Kent plans to send letters to medical marijuana collective gardens operating in town that the businesses are no longer allowed under a new ordinance.
The City Council voted 4-3 on June 5 to ban medical marijuana collective gardens because it believes the businesses violate federal law that lists marijuana as an illegal drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act. That ordinance took effect June 13.
“We will be sending out letters to operators and owners informing them that collective gardens are no longer an allowed zoning use in Kent,” said City Attorney Tom Brubaker in an email. “We intend to send letters to each operator and to their landlords, to the extent we can identify them.”
Brubaker said Tuesday the letters had yet to be drafted and he was unsure when the letters would be sent.
Evergreen Association of Collective Gardens is the one known business still to be operating. Owner Charles Lambert has promised to fight the city all the way to the Washington Supreme Court.
Brubaker said if the letters do not cause the medical marijuana businesses to close, the city will figure out what to do next.
“We will continue to assess the situation and consult with the Mayor (Suzette Cooke) and Council before we take additional steps,” he said.
The additional steps could be civil action or criminal charges, said Deputy City Attorney Pat Fitzpatrick.
Steve Sarich, executive director of the Cannabis Action Coalition, has sued the city in an effort to prohibit the city from enforcing its ban on collective gardens because he claims the state regulates medical marijuana collectives, and cities cannot enforce federal law over state medical marijuana laws.
“We have been sued and will defend that lawsuit,” Brubaker said.
State law allows medical marijuana use but the majority of council members decided the state law remains unclear about distribution of the drug and doesn’t want any medical marijuana businesses operating in Kent.
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