Clarification: In speaking with sources familiar with the ever-changing medical marijuana landscape in Washington, it appears "dispensaries" is no longer an accurate term for operations in Seattle that act as a source for patients to purchase their cannabis. In accordance with state law it seems dispensaries are out, replaced by distribution points for collective gardens. The July 18 section of this story makes reference to the City Council's ordinance legitimizing dispensaries, a term that is no longer accurate.

Update for July 28, 9:50 a.m.: On July 22, Seattle Police Chief John Diaz issued an update on law enforcement's approach to marijuana to his employees, asking them to "approach (each) investigation with care."

Citing the newest version of Washington State’s medical marijuana law that came into effect that same day, Diaz specifically mentioned the addition of “collective gardens,” allowing up to 10 patients to grow cannabis. The law states no individual can have more than 15 plants growing at a time or 24 ounces of harvested marijuana. Collective gardens can have no more than 45 plants growing at a time and no more than 72 ounces in its harvested form.

Diaz states in his letter that “competing and inconsistent laws along with varying interpretations by the elected officials and prosecutors combined with the different expectations of the public puts police officers on the street in a very difficult position when dealing with marijuana.”

He presented these guidelines for SPD officers to follow moving forward:

-Public Safety and officer safety will be the priority of any response to marijuana related incidents

-The voters of Seattle have clearly stated that small amounts of marijuana for adult personal use will be the lowest enforcement priority

-The use and/or possession of medical marijuana will be allowed if it is in compliance with State law

-When encountering marijuana, if there is any doubt about the correct course of action, employees must contact their supervisor and/or the Narcotics Section for clarification.

Chief Diaz concludes, “Each event/incident involving marijuana will bring its own independent fact pattern and present the officer with a unique set of circumstances. Unless there are emergent issues that accompany the marijuana incident, officers and detectives will approach the investigation with care.”

Update for July 27, 12:50 pm:
On July 27, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn signed the ordinance passed by the City Council on July 18 to provide a regulatory framework for "medical cannabis operations" within city boundaries.

The ordinance aims to their operation in the City as long as they follow the rules set out for any other business: complying with "the same land use codes, business licensing rules, public health regulations, and chronic nuisances laws..."

Since the state law failed to provide a regulatory framework for dispensaries (that was the section of the bill vetoed by Gov. Gregoire), what once were referred to as dispensaries around the state are reformatting their business model into a "management of collective gardens" as John Davis, owner of Northwest Patient Resource Center in West Seattle put it, in order to comply with the new state law that went into effect on July 22.

The new law allows collective gardens operated by patients while making dispensaries "clearly illegal," in the words of King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.

Here is the press release in its entirety:
Mayor Mike McGinn signs ordinance regulating medical marijuana operations in Seattle
Provides framework for ensuring operations follow City rules and regulations

SEATTLE– Mayor Mike McGinn today signed an ordinance creating a regulatory framework for medical cannabis operations within the City of Seattle. The ordinance, approved 8-0 by the City Council on July 18, was crafted in consultation with patients, businesses, and advocates to provide safe access to medical marijuana.

“This ordinance gives us more tools to protect public safety while ensuring businesses are good neighbors in their communities,” said Mayor Mike McGinn. “This will help us work toward a more rational and sensible way of regulating marijuana use, instead of continuing an irrational policy of prohibition that just doesn’t work.”

The ordinance requires that the medical use of cannabis under state law shall be conducted in compliance with all local laws and regulations applicable to similar activities. That includes medical cannabis operations, which must comply with the same land use codes, business licensing rules, public health regulations, and chronic nuisances laws as other businesses.

Under the new ordinance, the public can report issues at medical cannabis facilities to the Customer Service Bureau, the Seattle Police Department, or the Department of Planning and Development, as appropriate based on the specific issue.

Mayor McGinn will continue working with state legislators and the Governor to support a bill to provide greater clarity and legal protections for qualified medical marijuana users and providers at the state level. The mayor’s office will also work in the coming months with the City Council and the Department of Planning and Development to develop appropriate zoning regulations for medical cannabis facilities.

Original post from July 18: It looks like Seattle’s medical marijuana dispensaries are safe for now.

Seattle’s medical marijuana patients and dispensary owners, including three known dispensaries in West Seattle, received bolstering news from the Seattle City Council on Monday, July 18.

The council voted unanimously, 8-0, in favor of an ordinance that provides a framework for dispensaries to operate within city limits, providing a stable source of medicinal cannabis for the city’s estimated 25,000 patients. The missing vote was Councilmember Nick Licata’s, sponsor of the ordinance (so it’s safe to say it would have been 9-0 if he was in attendance.)

The ordinance now awaits Mayor McGinn’s signature, which is expected, and the council said the new law will go into effect right around the same time as Washington’s updated law hits the streets on July 22.

In the words of Councilmember Sally Clark, “They are here and we should regulate them. They are in the neighborhoods; they are doing business in some fashion and format, although I don’t think they even know exactly how they should be, given what the Governor’s veto kind of left us with.”

Governor Gregoire vetoed portions of the state bill that would have provided a regulatory framework for dispensaries, based on fear that state employees would become vulnerable to federal prosecution if they were involved in regulation.

Clark said Monday’s OK’d ordinance essentially states, “if you are doing business as a special designation or regulated medical cannabis provider in some way that you should follow the city’s regulations …” including all of the permits, taxes and fees associated with running a business in the city.

Additionally, the ordinance states, “the medical use of cannabis shall not exempt any person from complying with any no smoking law,” “the open use and display of cannabis is prohibited” and that community members wishing to complain about dispensary problems can contact the City of Seattle Customer Service Bureau, Seattle Police or the Department of Planning and Development (unless it is an emergency or there is a crime in progress – call 911 in that case).

To read the ordinance in its entirety, please click here.

The council plans to discuss zoning for dispensaries in future meetings, including the possibility of banning them within 1000 feet of a school or day care facility.

“But for now we are trying to provide as much clarity as we can that people should act as good neighbors and operate within the rules of the city of Seattle …” Clark said.

There was some council debate over the meaning of language in the “whereas” section (basically statements of law that guide the contents of the ordinance), specifically surrounding the statement, “WHEREAS, the City of Seattle expects the Seattle Police Department to continue to provide a balanced and measured enforcement of established Medical Cannabis enforcement policy…”

Clark attempted to clarify by saying, “It is a statement of intent that we would expect the Seattle Police Department to take appropriate measures in a balanced and measured way and that we do not see that the (SPD) is trying to shut down dispensaries as we have in some other Washington cities where they simply decided, ‘We are going to shut them down and we are not going to deal with this in our city.’ I think we have decided in general as a city that this is not the direction we want to go.”

As for dispensaries beyond city limits, such as the GAME Lounge and Herban Legends in White Center, King County’s approach is still unclear.

Northwest Patient Resource Center’s owner John Davis responds

John Davis, owner of NWPRC at the corner of 35th Ave S.W. and Roxbury and chairman of the board for Seattle’s Hempfest, said he expected the bill to pass and was pleased with the unanimous vote.

“Thank you Seattle,” he said.

“In my reading of the ordinance, all it says is, ‘Look if you are going to do business we are good with that but we want you to follow the rules that every business is accountable to,’” Davis said. “And we already do, it’s a no-brainer if you are a business; you gotta follow the rules.”

As for the council’s plan to discuss zoning, and the possibility of keeping dispensaries 1000 feet away from schools or daycares, Davis said it is a tall task.

“(Rep. Roger Goodman (D), while debating the state bill earlier this year) had a great point in that in the City of Seattle you cannot be a 1000 feet from a school; there is nowhere in the City of Seattle that actually qualifies for that particular statement between the public schools and private schools and daycares,” he said.

Davis said he has been studying the politics of medicinal marijuana for several years, a required task for the chairman of “the world’s largest cannabis festival.”

“In doing that I started to understand the politics and when I started to understand the politics is when I saw the opportunity for doing what I am doing (opening NWPRC). And that’s an understanding basically of the feeling of the city and the state and the feds and the lay of the land and yes, there probably is going to be some pushback from the feds but I am confident that unless someone is doing something that’s illegal on its own merits, the feds are going to leave Seattle alone.”