Closing Doors

Unincorporated Yakima County is not a friendly place for cannabis businesses. Recently, residents voted in favor of Proposition 1, which maintains a ban on cannabis businesses in the region. The original ban was put in place by the Board of Yakima County Commissioners without a vote due to the fact that when Initiative 502 passed in 2012, nearly 60 percent of the voters in this region voted against cannabis legalization.

Cannabis advocates were confident that seeing all the money to be made, and the lack of harm from legal cannabis, would change voters’ opinions on the matter. That was not the case however, and when the ballot results came back in November, cannabis advocates in the region were not pleased. The ban was upheld, and since the ban has now been voted into place, the County Commissioners can now allocate funds to shut down existing businesses.

This means that cannabis businesses that have invested in that region will have to relocate, shut down or be willing to shell out a lot of money for legal defense. In a time when employment is hard to come by in rural areas, it’s unfortunate that a region would choose to shut down good opportunities for local residents.

CULTURE asked County Commissioner Rand Elliott why Proposition 1 was on the ballot. “The Commissioners wanted to judge the sentiments of the citizens,” Elliott replied. When asked what this vote meant for existing cannabis businesses, Elliot wrote, “[T]hey have been and are out of compliance with our zoning ordinance.”

Among over 20 cannabis businesses, mostly producer/processors, who were impacted by this ban were producer/processors Greenzone in Selah and Sticky Budz outside Zillah. Jamie Muffett, owner of Sticky Budz, told the Yakima Herald that Sticky Budz would “continue doing what we’ve done the last three years, continue to do business, to operate our business.”

As other cannabis businesses in the country flourish and grow, perhaps residents of unincorporated Yakima County will see what they’re missing out on and decide to come around. In the meantime, it looks like the cannabis producers/processors in unincorporated Yakima County may face long legal battles in the future. It’s unfortunate when one county tries to keep its residents from the progress others throughout the state enjoy.