Yesterday, yet another Washington superior court judge ruled that counties can regulate or ban marijuana businesses, despite the passage of I-502, which legalized marijuana in the state.

Cowlitz County Judge Michael Evans became the fourth to say so, agreeing with the state Attorney General's Office that "nothing in Initiative 502 overrides local governments' authority to regulate or ban marijuana businesses." Nothing in the law says counties can't ban marijuana, so some—Clark, Yakima, Pierce, and Walla Walla—went ahead and did so. But while the AG is allowing counties to ban marijuana, some cities are turning around and nullifying the counties' bans.

Sound confusing? It is.

In Vancouver, WA, for example, two layers of government say cannabis businesses are legal and two layers say they aren't: the feds ban them, the state made them legal, then Clark County banned them, and then the city of Vancouver decided they were legal after all within city limits.

Vancouver has a few marijuana shops up and running, according to city attorney—and city council member—Brent Boger. "The county would not have any authority to shut those down," he said, because the city police have jurisdiction inside the city limits.

"There's nothing quite like it," he said. "I don't think we should block the will of the people—and in this case, it's the statewide will of the people."

The Municipal Research and Services Center has an interactive, updated map of marijuana's legal standing around the state, sorted by city and county.

"I'm surprised the all the judges seem to be piling on and accepting the attorney general's opinion," said Jim Doherty, legal consultant for the MRSC. "If it gets to an appellate court, we'll see if it agrees with what these superior court judges are saying. But it seems like the prohibitionists are getting a lot of strokes for their view."

Doherty says some city and county legislators—like those in Everett—are getting pressure from constituents who don't want marijuana shops in their neighborhoods. "I think the practical side will eventually help things," he said. "People will become more used to the idea that a marijuana store is just a store."

In the meantime, Doherty says, state legislators could give local governments some incentive to fully legalize by sharing some of their marijuana tax income. "That would help sweeten the pot," he said. "But from everything I've heard, it's going to be real tough to do that with the state backed up against the wall to find more money for education."

Tacoma city attorney Jon Walker says this legal hodgepodge will probably persist unless the legislature forces all the local jurisdictions to conform. "Cities and counties have a lot of authority under the state constitution," he said. "And this may be for the best—there are a lot of places that really don't want this."