Editorial: Give pot laws chance to prove their worth

In a closely watched court case, a local ban on marijuana commerce was upheld and a larger threat to the voter-approved state law was averted – for now.

On Friday, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Ronald Culpepper ruled that the ban imposed by the small town of Fife did not violate the rights of a prospective pot proprietor. Our view is that communities ought to honor the will of the voters – 53 percent of Fife voters supported Initiative 502 – but we won’t argue with the analysis of the judge or the state attorney general, who agreed that if sponsors wanted to compel local governments to allow pot commerce, the initiative should have been written to say so.

Our main concern was with the zealotry of Fife’s backup plan if the judge had ruled the other way. Had that had happened, Fife officials wanted the judge to invalidate the entire law based on the argument that it didn’t align with the federal prohibition under the Controlled Substances Act. In other words, Fife’s leaders wanted to stop legal sales everywhere if they couldn’t stop it in their town.

However, the case broke the other way, so the judge didn’t issue a formal ruling on the matter. He did say off-handedly that he didn’t think federal prohibition posed a threat to I-502, according to the Associated Press.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson submitted comprehensive arguments to buttress that position, saying that Fife had not demonstrated that it would be compelled to engage in illegal activities or be liable for federal transgressions for simply following state law. Granting a business license is not the same as rooting for success. It’s a neutral act that would hold the city harmless, Ferguson argued. That is, if the city were to allow such sales. But now that it doesn’t have to, the point is moot.

However, Fife’s willingness to shoot down the law for all communities provides another example of the outsized fear of legal marijuana. Illegal sales will continue in Fife and the scores of other communities that have issued bans or moratoriums on legal pot sales. All of the activities these communities hope to stop are already occurring, and will continue. Making pot legal does not make it more dangerous. Banning its sale doesn’t get rid of it.

The trend nationwide is toward legalization and decriminalization. Federal officials and some members of Congress are urging a second look at the antiquated Controlled Substances Act and the absurdity of regulating pot as if it were heroin.

The feds have stayed out of the legal pot trade in Washington and Colorado because the states have gone to great lengths to establish safeguards on the growth, distribution and sale.

We urge communities to give the law a chance. If fears come true, then restrictions or bans still can be imposed.

A judge just said so.