LONGVIEW, Wash. -- Cities throughout Washington are scrambling to deal with a controversial new law that would allow collective medical marijuana gardens, with up to 45 plants. The law goes into effect on Friday.
On Tuesday night, city leaders in Longview unanimously approved a six-month moratorium on the gardens. A public hearing is slated for Sept. 15 at 6 p.m. in city council chambers.
Currently, medical marijuana patients in Washington can grow up to 15 plants for their own use. The new state law allows them to join with other patients to create a much larger garden.
Longview's mayor wants more time to figure out where these gardens will go.
"How would this look, how would this collective garden work, and function and be secure and those type of things? It's all questions we need to answer," said Longview Mayor Kurt Anagnostou.
Medical marijuana advocates suggest the public likely wouldn't notice a collective garden.
"You know these are things that generally speaking are in closed environments and they are not advertised to anybody," said medical marijuana advocate Aaron Kightlinger.
A handful of cities in Washington, including Vancouver have passed similar moratoriums. The state law allows cities and counties to establish zoning laws to regulate the gardens.
