Court of Appeals upholds county’s cannabis ban

On March 13, the state Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court ruling that Clark County can lawfully ban the retail sale of cannabis within its unincorporated areas (i.e. areas outside of city boundaries).

In 2014, Clark County passed an ordinance banning the retail sale of cannabis so long as the federal government listed marijuana as a controlled substance. Despite the ordinance, a business applied to the state Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) for a retail license for Clark County. The county objected, but the LCB issued the license anyway. The business then challenged the ordinance in court.

In its decision, the court reaffirmed previous decisions that held that the although an activity may be licensed under state law, that does not mean it must be allowed under local law. The court also held that because state law does not occupy the entire field of marijuana regulation in Washington, the county retains its zoning authority to ban marijuana businesses in unincorporated parts of the county.