Jacob Bell
New Member
TACOMA, Wash. - Twenty-one medical marijuana dispensaries in Tacoma have received letters from the city telling them they are illegal and they need to give back their city business licenses.
But the dispensaries aren't taking it calmly - they are ready to fight City Hall.
"We are going to do what anyone would do who's been hit in the teeth. We are going to hit back. We are going to get a lawyer, and if I have my way we are going to sue the city," says Michael Allison, who runs Left Coast Cannabis.
He and 20 other medical marijuana dispensaries plan to meet Friday night to devise a strategy.
The conflict actually began last October when the city told the eight dispensaries then operating in Tacoma they were illegal.
They rallied at City Hall - and were caught by surprise back then when the City Council told the pot purveyors - you're right, the law is confusing.
So the city decided to let the stores operate until the Legislature acts. And that's why the letter sent out this week was such a big surprise to the dispensaries.
"Here comes the letter, and it's like October never happened and the City Council never said what they said they were going to do," Allison says. "And, you know - who's running the city?"
He and others are concerned, angry.
But the city says it's all a misunderstanding - a panic caused by the wording of the letter.
Rob McNair-Huff, Tacoma City Council spokesman, says the letter is actually nothing more than a notice to new dispensaries that they need to take certain actions to gain the same legal status as the original eight stores.
"They need to file an appeal, follow the directions that are in the letter - and that will put them in the same position the previous eight businesses were at," he says.
If they do that, the city will take no action until the Legislature acts, McNair-Huff says.
But there's also another side to the city letter.
And that is, if the Legislature doesn't clarify the rules for the sale of medical marijuana, the city would then act - and try to close all of the 27 or 28 dispensaries now operating in Tacoma.
News Hawk- Jacob Husky 420 MAGAZINE
Source: komonews.com
Author: Bryan Johnson
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Fisher Communications, Inc
Website: Tacoma medical pot dispensaries angered by letter from city
But the dispensaries aren't taking it calmly - they are ready to fight City Hall.
"We are going to do what anyone would do who's been hit in the teeth. We are going to hit back. We are going to get a lawyer, and if I have my way we are going to sue the city," says Michael Allison, who runs Left Coast Cannabis.
He and 20 other medical marijuana dispensaries plan to meet Friday night to devise a strategy.
The conflict actually began last October when the city told the eight dispensaries then operating in Tacoma they were illegal.
They rallied at City Hall - and were caught by surprise back then when the City Council told the pot purveyors - you're right, the law is confusing.
So the city decided to let the stores operate until the Legislature acts. And that's why the letter sent out this week was such a big surprise to the dispensaries.
"Here comes the letter, and it's like October never happened and the City Council never said what they said they were going to do," Allison says. "And, you know - who's running the city?"
He and others are concerned, angry.
But the city says it's all a misunderstanding - a panic caused by the wording of the letter.
Rob McNair-Huff, Tacoma City Council spokesman, says the letter is actually nothing more than a notice to new dispensaries that they need to take certain actions to gain the same legal status as the original eight stores.
"They need to file an appeal, follow the directions that are in the letter - and that will put them in the same position the previous eight businesses were at," he says.
If they do that, the city will take no action until the Legislature acts, McNair-Huff says.
But there's also another side to the city letter.
And that is, if the Legislature doesn't clarify the rules for the sale of medical marijuana, the city would then act - and try to close all of the 27 or 28 dispensaries now operating in Tacoma.
News Hawk- Jacob Husky 420 MAGAZINE
Source: komonews.com
Author: Bryan Johnson
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Fisher Communications, Inc
Website: Tacoma medical pot dispensaries angered by letter from city
