A key vote Tuesday night signals a new future for cannabis production in parts of southwest Washington.
By a 3-2 vote, the Clark County Council lifted its moratorium on recreational marijuana, paving the way for cannabis production and sales in unincorporated areas, including Hazel Dell, Salmon Creek, and Felida.
The Clark County Council voted 3 to 2 to lift its ban on recreational cannabis on July 2, 2019.
Molly Solomon / OPB
The new ordinance green lights retailers, growers and processors to open up shop as soon as January 1, 2020.
The council decision was welcome news to cannabis shop owners like Jim Mullen. He runs The Herbery, which has three locations in Vancouver and is looking to expand.
“It’s exciting,” Mullen said after the vote. “It’s going to be a great way to start the new year for us and I think all the other businesses that are going to be able to open.”
The ban has been in place since 2014, when councilors passed a moratorium two years after Washington voters legalized recreational marijuana. And while nearby cities like Vancouver and Battle Ground allow cannabis sales, Clark County has been more resistant. The county includes larger swaths of rural populations and tends to vote more conservative. County residents actually rejected the state initiative to legalize marijuana in 2012.
"It's been an ongoing community conversation," Clark County councilor Temple Lentz told OPB before the vote. She was elected last November and is the council's lone Democrat.
Lentz was one of three councilors who voted in support of lifting the ban, joining Republican councilors John Blom and Julie Olson.
Lentz, whose district comprises most of west Vancouver, said legalizing cannabis in the county was an issue her constituents raised while she was campaigning.
“This is something voters support, and I do believe this will be a benefit to the community,” she said following an hour and a half of testimony at Tuesday's public hearing.
Councilors who voted in favor of lifting the ban said the prohibition on marijuana had outlived its purpose. Councilor Olson suggested the additional revenue from cannabis sales could fund youth addiction prevention and education. Budget estimates predict the county could bring in as much as $700,000 in annual sales tax revenue.
Cannabis shops in the area, including The Herbery in Vancouver, hope the ban lift in Clark County will be a boon for business.
Molly Solomon / OPB
At Tuesday night’s public hearing, Olson noted that the county’s public health statistics show youth drug and alcohol addiction rates have actually decreased in recent years.
“I’m trying to let the data drive my decision,” said Olson.
Before taking a vote, councilors reduced the distance cannabis shops could open near sensitive locations, like public parks and day care centers, from 1,000 feet to 500 feet so that all stores would not be clustered in the same areas. Under state law, cannabis businesses must be 1,000 feet from elementary and secondary schools as well as playgrounds. Councilors also approved an amendment to extend the operating hours from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. to reflect similar rules in Vancouver.
Opponents of lifting the moratorium testified on the social problems associated with drug addiction and the potential to contribute to youth addiction.
“I believe you are benefiting the few to the detriment of the entire community,” testified Ann Donnelly, a Vancouver businesswoman and former chair of the Clark County Republican Party.
Councilor Gary Medvigy voted in favor of maintaining the ban. The former prosecutor and judge spoke at length around the cases he saw throughout his career where marijuana use led to crime and psychotic episodes.
“This notion that it’s not a gateway drug is a false narrative,” he said.
Medvigy did say more research needed to be done and called on the federal government to remove marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug so its effects could be better studied.
Council chair Eileen Quiring strongly opposed lifting the ban and believes the county will end up spending more on complaints to police.
“I fear we’re putting the county in a precarious position and I’m sad about it,” she said.
After an hour and a half of public testimony, Quiring closed the discussion by voicing her own frustrations with the process.
"There's division on this council. There's division on the planning commission. There's division in the county," she said.