Benton County, Washington, is a region that is estimated to have a population of about 200,000 people. It's one of many counties in Washington state that operates with a non-chartered commission form of government. And Benton county is just one of several areas that make-up Washington's 4th congressional district.
And the few there who set the rules, like the Benton County commissioners, have recently decided that they want to ban any progress in the cannabis market for their Benton County area.
They have sought to prevent any and all new cannabis shops from opening in unincorporated areas of the region.
At the moment, there are just three shops in the region, with plans for a fourth one to soon be developed. These four are the only ones who have an acceptable license that gives them authority to operate.
Those four shops will be allowed to continue but if they fail, that's it.
There won't be any new shops that will be allowed to take their place. And the owners of those current licenses are prohibited from being able to sell or transfer the license to any new party.
It only took about 30 people voicing their concerns in the matter, to supposedly convince officials in the region that they should move forward with the ban.
Several residents are allegedly concerned about plans for a cannabis shop to be opened within 1,000 feet from a preschool, that's fueling their activism to try and tell other people how they should use their property. As well as what sort of voluntary exchanges they should be legally allowed to make within the region.
Cannabis was legalized for recreational use in Washington, along with other states, but that doesn't mean that everyone in Washington is in support of it. And Benton County was one of the areas that the legalization initiative had failed, despite receiving enough support to eventually pass.
But is every individual in that region against this plant? No. And so should the few or even the majority who are, be able to tell others what they can do with their own private property? Or be able to prevent others from deciding for themselves and engaging in this activity in that region if they choose to?
For the Benton County region, they've got dozens of liquor stores, plenty of Rite Aids, numerous fast food locations, all of which could contribute a tremendous amount of damage to individuals depending on how they use or abuse the products that are sold there.
At the moment, there are dozens of different cannabis shop locations that have sprung up across Washington, and so despite Benton County looking to prevent growth in this area for their own region, it's certainly taking off in the rest of Washington. And individuals who live in Benton County don't have to travel that far in order to find a large selection of cannabis products in the state.
Sources:
http://keprtv.com/news/local/benton-county-commissioners-no-more-pot-shops
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/article174156131.html
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World Atlas via worldatlas.com/na/us/wa/c-benton-county-washington.html