SEATTLE — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging Washington state’s authority to tax marijuana.
U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman dismissed the case last week for lack of jurisdiction.
The operator of a medical marijuana dispensary in Bellingham, Martin Nickerson, sued because he was being simultaneously prosecuted for marijuana distribution and targeted by the state Revenue Department for not collecting taxes on marijuana sales. He argued he couldn’t pay the tax without incriminating himself.
But the judge agreed with the state’s lawyers, who argued that federal law required the case to be brought in state court.
