WA aims for less medical marijuana in revised rule

After meeting with law enforcement leaders, Washington's Health Department has cut its suggested two-month supply of medical marijuana by nearly a third - a change that riled patients' advocates and sparked threats of a lawsuit.

On Monday, the state Health Department laid out its suggestion for a 60-day supply of medical marijuana at 24 ounces of usable pot, along with six mature plants and 18 immature plants. That mirrors the limits used in Oregon, and is a significant drop from the 35 ounces and 100 square feet of growing area the agency was considering after gathering volumes of comment from people around the state.

But after reviewing health officials' work in February, Gov. Chris Gregoire thought the amount was too large and ordered the agency to get more opinions from law enforcement officials and doctors - even though doing so pushed the work past a previous July 1 deadline for a final medical marijuana rule.

The resulting smaller guideline was formally filed as a draft state rule Monday, which means more hearings and public comment are in order before the limits become binding.

Medical marijuana patients and advocates slammed the change, saying it was a politically motivated flip-flop that could leave large numbers of sick people in danger of being thrown in jail.

"We'll probably have to file a lawsuit to stop the application of this rule, because they did not use scientific evidence in formulating it," said Douglas Hiatt, a leading lawyer for medical marijuana patients. "It's obvious the whole issue turned into a big political football."

Gregoire, a former state attorney general who is facing a stiff re-election challenge from Republican former state Sen. Dino Rossi, has courted law enforcement support in her first term.

The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, which recently endorsed Gregoire, was one of the main groups at the table when the Health Department reconsidered its previous, larger marijuana guideline.

The association's policy director, Joanna Arlow, said law enforcement has always maintained that experts on health should be the ones dictating how much marijuana is proper for a patient to have.

But police also worry that drug dealers could use a higher limit to conceal illicit marijuana growing operations, and they're more comfortable with the new, lower ounce amount that health officials submitted Monday.

Changing the growing-operation rule to a number of plants, rather than a square-footage calculation, also makes it easier for police to judge who's staying within the state rules and who's exceeding them, she said.

"The number they've released today seems reasonable, and it probably doesn't rise to the level of concern about anybody hiding behind it," Arlow said.

Health officials said there is a shortage of medical research on how much marijuana a patient should be allowed, complicating the discussion about the limit state law should lay out. They also pointed out that, if the 24-ounce rule becomes permanent, patients who need more to alleviate their symptoms can get a waiver from their doctor.

But Dale Rogers, director of Seattle's Compassion in Action Patient Network, said doctors will likely be reluctant to go beyond the state rules.

"The system will not make it easy for the doctors to do," Rogers said. "I don't want to make a doctor fill out 10 more forms so someone can get a couple more ounces. It's asinine. It's not going to happen."