Another Pot Ban Upheld By State Judge

Retail marijuana sales are banned in the city of Yakima, and other cities are doing the same. Now, for the fifth time, a Superior Court judge Monday agreed with an opinion issued by the Attorney General’s Office earlier this year, concluding that nothing in Initiative 502 overrides local governments’ authority to regulate or ban marijuana businesses.

That allows I-502 to continue to be implemented, but leaves the door open for local bans. Every court to consider this issue has now agreed with the Attorney General’s opinion.
Monday’s ruling came from Pierce County Superior Court Judge Ronald Culpepper in the case of Green Collar LLC v. Pierce County. The plaintiffs in the case sought to open a marijuana business in Pierce County despite the county’s ban on such businesses.

This is the fifth ruling in a row that agrees with the AG's opinion that nothing in Initiative 502 overrides local governments’ authority to regulate or ban marijuana businesses.