Snohomish Cannabis Growers Band Together to Sue County

With
the warm weather finally here, gardening season is in full swing. Most gardeners
in our state have already built their garden beds and hoop houses, and planted
their seeds. After putting in effort and resources, most growers would be
pretty upset to have their garden dreams shattered. Sometimes pests can ruin
your crops, and other times bad weather can. In the case of Snohomish cannabis
growers, the county outlawing their crop’s production put a major damper on
their harvest this year.

Last
month, the Snohomish City Council voted four-to-one, to ban cannabis growing in
certain rural areas, known as R5 zones. This is after the county already gave
the go-ahead for cannabis growers in R5 zones back in 2013. While most voters
were for the legalization of cannabis, apparently they don’t want it produced
in their own backyard. Numerous citizen complaints caused the city council to
vote on whether the already established cannabis production facilities could
remain in R5 zones legally.

After
years of cannabis producers and processors working to establish their
facilities in these areas, banning them has cost these growers thousands. And
they’ve come together to get retribution. Jamie Curtismith is representing 36
growers in a lawsuit against Snohomish County. Curtismith gave her thoughts on
the county’s decision in an article she wrote for the Herald of Everett titled Business Ban Helps Black-Market Growers.

“Thirty-six
state-licensed operations are already up and running, 19 of which are in the R5
zone. Without a single legitimate complaint registered against them, nor any
evidence that their neighbors’ property values have decreased, farmers are
being told to move off properties they’ve held in their families for decades.”
Curtismith wrote.

“Over 400
well-paid rural jobs have been created by these businesses, hundreds of
ancillary businesses have been launched to support these operations, and
millions of dollars have already been generated in sales that the county would
have directly benefited from via the Revenue Sharing scheme currently being
worked-out in Olympia,” she said.

The
outcome of this lawsuit may impact future legal decisions regarding cannabis
production in the future. So cannabis growers all over the state will be
watching this case unfold closely. Hopefully justice will be served, and the
growers will be able to at the very least, get their land back, and be reimbursed
for some of their lost earnings.