SEATTLE -- The city is one step closer to making medical marijuana legal inside the city limits.
But proponents will have to hurry as a new state law set to take effect next week will outlaw marijuana dispensaries everywhere.
Dozens of medical marijuana supporters packed City Hall on Wednesday to put pressure on the Seattle City Council to keep medical marijuana legal in Seattle.
The council is considering an ordinance to license medical pot dispensaries as co-ops before next week. Co-ops would remain legal under the new state law.
Oscar Velasco-Schmitz, who owns a medical marijuana dispensary in Fremont, says owners all over the city are nervous. The owners say if Seattle doesn't pass the ordinance by the deadline, they'll be forced to close their doors on the thousands of patients who depend on them.
Last week, the city of Kent raided and shut down four dispensaries after the mayor decided she had no choice under the new state law. And several other cities in Washington are considering doing the same.
Seattle is taking the opposite approach by deciding whether it can regulate medical marijuana instead of shutting down dispensaries altogether.
The ordinance would include specific rules for how co-ops can grow marijuana, and even limit the equipment they're allowed to use. It would also regulate where co-ops can operate and the number of dispensaries allowed to operate in a neighborhood.
But the ordinance offers no protection from state and federal law. It's still illegal for anyone to buy and sell medical marijuana.
The full city council will vote on the medical marijuana ordinance next Monday.
But proponents will have to hurry as a new state law set to take effect next week will outlaw marijuana dispensaries everywhere.
Dozens of medical marijuana supporters packed City Hall on Wednesday to put pressure on the Seattle City Council to keep medical marijuana legal in Seattle.
The council is considering an ordinance to license medical pot dispensaries as co-ops before next week. Co-ops would remain legal under the new state law.
Oscar Velasco-Schmitz, who owns a medical marijuana dispensary in Fremont, says owners all over the city are nervous. The owners say if Seattle doesn't pass the ordinance by the deadline, they'll be forced to close their doors on the thousands of patients who depend on them.
Last week, the city of Kent raided and shut down four dispensaries after the mayor decided she had no choice under the new state law. And several other cities in Washington are considering doing the same.
Seattle is taking the opposite approach by deciding whether it can regulate medical marijuana instead of shutting down dispensaries altogether.
The ordinance would include specific rules for how co-ops can grow marijuana, and even limit the equipment they're allowed to use. It would also regulate where co-ops can operate and the number of dispensaries allowed to operate in a neighborhood.
But the ordinance offers no protection from state and federal law. It's still illegal for anyone to buy and sell medical marijuana.
The full city council will vote on the medical marijuana ordinance next Monday.
