The Revised Code of Washington (RCW), 69.50.475, makes the sale of cannabis by cannabis retail outlets to persons under twenty-one years of age a criminal offense punishable as a gross misdemeanor. Employees/owners of said stores can be prosecuted for violations of the statute. In order to prosecute a violation of a state law in Yakima Municipal Court the City must adopt the specific RCW within the Yakima Municipal Code. The Yakima Police Department from time to time conducts enforcement of under age sales, such the sale of liquor by retail establishments to persons under twenty-one years of age. Adoption of RCW 69.50.475, would allow the City to prosecute any violations of the statute in Yakima Municipal Court. The full statute is set out below:
Cannabis retail outlets—Sale to persons under the age of twenty-one—Penalty.
(1) Except as otherwise authorized in this chapter and as provided in subsection (2) of this section, an employee of a retail outlet who sells cannabis products to a person under the age of twenty-one years in the course of his or her employment is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
(2) An employee of a retail outlet may be prosecuted under RCW 69.50.401 or 69.50.406 or any other applicable provision, if the employee sells cannabis products to a person the employee knows is under the age of twenty-one and not otherwise authorized to purchase cannabis products under this chapter, or if the employee sells or otherwise provides cannabis products to a person under the age of twenty-one outside of the course of his or her employment. |