Succeeding where Governor Christine Gregoire so gloriously failed, today the Seattle City Council unanimously passed a bill to license, tax, and regulate collective medical marijuana grow operations in Seattle.

The measure passed unmolested after council member Bruce Harrell's clunky attempt to introduce a needless amendment that, he said, would protect the kiddies from the evils of marijuana by mandating dispensaries stay 1,000 feet from schools and calling on the Seattle Police Department to provide "balanced and measured enforcement." His cohorts ultimately shot down the amendment, noting that dispensaries can't currently operate within 1,000 feet of schools and "balanced and measured enforcement" is benign gibberish that means abso-fucking-lutely nothing at all.

In the coming months, the council will consider legislation to limit medical marijuana facilities (the grow operations, processing facilities, and store fronts) to select areas. This will happen in two parts: First, the council will consider where they can't go (like in residential neighborhoods) and second, where they can go.