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Residents urge Sunnyside council to pause retail marijuana sales; council assigns review to committee
Summary
Several residents urged council not to permit recreational marijuana sales in Sunnyside. Speakers cited public-health and crime concerns; others urged regulated sales to reduce illicit products. Mayor said the issue will be assigned to a council committee and public forums will be scheduled.
Multiple residents used the public-comment period to urge Sunnyside City Council either to oppose permitting retail recreational marijuana sales or to carefully regulate any change. The council did not vote on legalization; the mayor said the proposal will be assigned to a committee and that the city will hold public forums.
Yakima County Commissioner LaDon Lindy, who identified himself as speaking from Sunnyside, told council he believes allowing recreational marijuana sales would bring “little new revenue in exchange for more problems.” Lindy said that addiction is the county’s largest public-health challenge and that locally available cannabis products have higher THC concentrations today than in prior decades. “I believe this is a bad idea and that you'll get little new revenue in exchange for more problems,” Lindy said on the record.
Other public speakers amplified differing views. Sandra Lindy said she opposed bringing retail sales to Sunnyside and urged councilors to review the history and past local deliberations. Matt Reid and Jim Stevens described concerns from other counties and urged caution. By contrast, Teodora Martinez, a licensed mental-health therapist who said she lives in Outlook, Washington, said she does not agree that cannabis “leads to suicide” and argued that regulated sales can reduce laced products and that treatment and services are the key to preventing youth substance use.
Mayor and staff emphasized process: the mayor told attendees that council will take time, assign the topic to a committee this evening and schedule a series of public forums so both sides can present information. The mayor said any formal municipal policy or licensing decision will come only after committee review and further public engagement.
Speakers and attendees were reminded during the public-comment instructions that meeting sign-in sheets and recorded comments are public records under RCW 42.56 (the state Public Records Act).
