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CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, News editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

Marijuana mart denied license

By Mina Williams
Enterprise editor

Mountlake Terrace officials have rejected a business license that would enable the operation of a medical marijuana dispensary in the city.

Botanical Urban Dispensary Service (B.U.D.S.) was notified that their application was denied because of city ordinances and the Washington State Uniform Controlled Substances Act.

Todd Madison, co-owner of B.U.D.S., tried to appeal the denial. But the city does not have an administrative appeal procedure for commercial business licenses, said John J. Caulfield, city manager.

At issue is a murky law regarding medical marijuana in the state of Washington.

In 1998, voters approved medical marijuana. Only patients with terminal or debilitating conditions, such as cancer, Crohn’s disease, glaucoma, anorexia and pain that standard medical treatments and medicines don’t relieve, among several other conditions.

The Legislature set limits on possession to a 60-day supply, described as 1.5 pounds or 15 plants per person. Qualifying patients can obtain medical marijuana from a designated care provider, who can have “only one patient at any one time.”

Dispensaries are not allowed by the law, according to the state Department of Health. See the agency’s frequently asked questions section at www.doh.wa.gov/hsqa/medical-marijuana.

Those on both sides of the issue say that there are many ways to interpret the law, questioning if it addresses that providers must only serve one single client, or serve only one client at a time.

“The law is so grey that the intent is lost,” said Madison, of B.U.D.S. “What is being allowed is whatever anybody feels they can get away with. Meanwhile, both sides are looking at the same law.”

The next step for B.U.D.S. is the state Superior Court, he said. “We want to clarify the law. People who get authorization (for medical marijuana) have nowhere to go and we are in the market for a town that wants us.”

The first medical marijuana dispensary in the state to be shuttered was last September in Spokane, following a four-month investigation. Police also seized plants and grow lights from four homes in the area.