In a surprise move, the Metropolitan King County Council imposed a four-month moratorium on accepting or issuing permits for marijuana growers, processors, and retailers. The moratorium took effect Monday, April 25th, and will be subject to a public hearing within 60 days. No statement clearly outlining the primary concern regarding legal marijuana businesses has been issued by the council. Although Council member Reagan Dunn, who represents rural areas, “likened the lack of restrictions on growers and processors in the county’s rural residential areas to the “wild West.””
As way of reminder, while marijuana is legal in Washington, cities, towns, and counties can still ban marijuana sales and production. Also as way of reminder, unincorporated areas of King County are those areas outside of any city within King County. Such areas, cover 82 percent of King County’s land area.
The Seattle Times article is available here: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/marijuana/with-no-notice-king-county-slaps-ban-on-pot-businesses/
About Us
Foster Garvey’s Cannabis practice group comprises a premier legal counsel team who provides a full range of legal services such as regulatory compliance, marijuana licensing, business finance, contracts, labor and employment, health care, real estate, intellectual property, litigation and dispute resolution, technology and tax. Our team possesses deep and diverse industry experience and has counseled clients across virtually all industry sectors. We understand the inherent challenges that licensed marijuana and ancillary businesses in Washington state, Oregon and Alaska are burdened with in this highly regulated industry as they deal with onerous state and local regulations as well as uncertainty resulting from federal law.
We are committed to helping our clients achieve their business goals while navigating the intricacies in this rapidly changing area of law. We prize innovation and entrepreneurship, and closely monitoring industry trends.