The Whitman County Commissioners have once again extended their moratorium on new marijuana businesses in the unincorporated areas of the county.
The board voted Monday to extend the moratorium for another 6 months for the third time. The last moratorium was set to run out on Friday.
The moratorium was issued in March of last year following a controversial proposal from Selway Holdings LLC to grow, process, and research marijuana next to the Washington State University dairy farm near Pullman. That proposal was met by opposition from WSU, neighbors, Pullman Regional Hospital and Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories in Pullman.
The moratorium will give the Whitman County Planning Commission more time to craft rules to regulate the marijuana industry in the rural parts of the county. The plan would still have to be approved by the county commissioners.