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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spin Control

State wants to be part of pot ban cases

OLYMPIA -- The Attorney General's office wants to get involved in a pair of lawsuits between pot businesses and cities that have banned them in an effort to "protect the will of the voters" who legalized the drug in 2012.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson said today the state is asking to intervene in cases filed in Wenatchee and Fife that are challenging local bans on the sale of marijuana.

If the courts say yes, the state would come down somewhat in the middle of this fight. It would argue the cities have a right under state law to ban a marijuana business, even one licensed by the state Liquor Control Board. But they don't have the right to ban those businesses because they violate federal law.

"We will oppose any argument that federal law pre-empts Initiative 502," the ballot measure passed in 2012, Ferguson said. A court ruling that federal law pre-empts the state law that established a system to produce sell and use recreational marijuana by adults could have far-ranging consequences for other communities, he said.

A hearing on the case involving the Fife ban is set for Aug. 29, he said.



Jim Camden
Jim Camden joined The Spokesman-Review in 1981 and retired in 2021. He is currently the political and state government correspondent covering Washington state.

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