OLYMPIA -- Aspiring marijuana retailers from Clark County spoke at a hearing Thursday in support of bills that would prohibit the county from rejecting Washington's voter-approved legalization initiative in favor of federal law.

House Bills 2322 and 2638, heard in public hearing Thursday, would prohibit local governments from blocking the establishment of marijuana businesses in their jurisdictions.

Initiative 502, approved in November 2012, made such establishments legal.

But at a work session Jan. 8,Clark County commissioners indicated they were considering banning all marijuana-related operations in observance of federal law. The board issued a moratorium prohibiting all marijuana facilities last year to figure out the logistics of the initiative.

“The commissioners showed up to the meeting basically like kids who hadn’t done their homework,” said Brandon Christy, an aspiring marijuana retailer who testified in favor of HB 2322. “They are trying to backpedal and stop this law from happening. I believe it’s because they have a moral objection to it.”

Several local governments in Washington are resisting the implementation of I-502. With Clark County’s moratorium on cannabis shops set to end in February, county commissioners said they would need to issue a new moratorium because they needed more time to draft an ordinance modeled after one adopted by Pierce County.

The Pierce County Council in November decided not to allow marijuana businesses to operate within the county until Congress removes marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances.

Rep. Christopher Hurst, D-Enumclaw

"Pierce County overwhelmingly supported the passage of 502," said Rep. Christopher Hurst, D-Enumclaw. "For better or for worse, it's the decision of the citizens since it's what they said they wanted. But yet you have a county council that has overwhelmingly said they are not going to have this."

Clark County Commissioner David Madore said it is important for his county to uphold federal mandates.

“Right now marijuana is still on the controlled substance just like cocaine and other drugs,” Madore said. “I respect the vote of the people as far as it’s in the limits of the law.”

I-502 created a system for regulating and taxing marijuana.

The two bills halting local action against I-502 were heard at a House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee hearing along with House Bill 2144, which would redistribute 10 percent of I-502 revenue to local jurisdictions in an effort in incentivize local governments to open their doors to I-502 business.

Members of the committee saw these three bills as the “carrot and stick” approach to getting local governments to accept the recreational marijuana business, an issue the lawmakers said was important to the mission of I-502.

“We cannot have a successful system if we have one city that has 502 stores, or county, and one next store that doesn’t,” said Hurst, the committee chairman. “Because what we’re going to have is pockets of compliance and pockets of ongoing criminal activity. In reality, the error that some of the cities and counties are making is that if you pass a preemption law you’re going to actually be inviting the criminals from neighboring cities to move and compete over your territory because they can’t compete with the legitimate market.”

Local officials at the hearing said the state shouldn’t be forcing local jurisdictions to comply.

“These bills would essentially prohibit even adopting a moratorium to review appropriate regulations,” said Don Britain, a Kennewick city council member testifying against HB 2322. “No other industry in the state has been afforded such broad protection. We believe this bill goes too far and overreaches the state’s authority over local jurisdiction.”

Bellevue City Attorney Lori Riordan said she had concerns about the part of HB 2322 that would revoke liquor tax revenues to a municipality that “discriminates” against a state-related marijuana business.

“The language contained in this bill about discriminating against other businesses is going to be almost impossible to actually implement,” Riordan said. “We make distinctions every day in our zoning codes based upon the types of businesses, what kinds of zones they’ll go into. What constitutes discrimination is a very real concern.”

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson issued an opinion on Jan. 16 that I-502 does not explicitly pre-empt local government control, leaving room for counties and cities to prohibit regulated I-502 businesses from opening.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson

Ferguson's interpretation of the law was not shared by the committee.

“We have done a fairly exhaustive analysis of the attorney general’s opinion, both by partisan and non-partisan staff,” Hurst said, “and I’ve contacted other legal scholars, and I think the general consensus is that he’s incorrect.”

Meanwhile, aspiring marijuana merchants in Clark County are waiting.

“My husband elected to apply for a retail license so we could use that money to fund a wildlife center in Clark County”, said Jackie Marsden, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. “We put in a lot of money to try and set up a lawful business in the county. The commissioners are not interested in moving forward on that.”

--Conor King Devitt