Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn scheduled a signing ceremony Wednesday with the city attorney and other officials to sign a bill regulating medical marijuana like any other business, according to The Associated Press.
The Seattle City Council unanimously passed rules July 18th requiring that medical marijuana operations be licensed, obtain food-handling permits if they sell marijuana-infused cookies or other items, and follow all other regulations such as land use and historic preservation codes. The approach is the opposite of what several other local cities have done — imposing moratoriums on such operations.
The ordinance was in part the result of meetings between city officials, including City Attorney Pete Holmes, and members of the medical-marijuana community. They gathered last month to talk about what is allowable under state law, which is dramatically changing July 22, because of Gov. Chris Gregoire’s partial veto in May of a proposed landmark bill that would have legalized and regulated dispensaries and grow farms.
Evergreen State voters approved legalizing medical marijuana in 1998. Washington is one of 16 states which allows marijuana use for medical purposes, but the federal government still does not recognize any medicinal use for cannabis.
