Police department as medical dispensary? Bring sense to marijuana's proper role

KING County Judge Mary Roberts recently ordered the Kent Police Department to become something of a medical dispensary.

A man was arrested at a Kent pharmacy for possession of 11 pounds of marijuana but, in court, produced a California medical-marijuana prescription. Though he was charged with felony drug possession, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession.

The judge ordered the department to dispense weekly portions of the seized marijuana to the defendant.

The admittedly surreal concept of our evidence technicians dispensing marijuana to a medical patient is another bizarre episode in an ongoing debate in our society.

Medical-marijuana laws in this country arise from a unique political mix of real human compassion combined with efforts to get a foot in the door toward decriminalization. The outcomes and unintended consequences of these initiatives create circumstances that would be laughable if they didn't so negatively affect our public safety and overall respect for the rule of law.

California has gigantic medical-marijuana loopholes, with large cooperatives and doctor's offices set up solely to issue easily accessible prescriptions. The whole system has become a bit of a joke, and has become very similar to the speak-easies of the 1930s, with ubiquitous availability to what is supposed to be an illegal substance and very unequal enforcement.

Washington state has somewhat more restrictive medical-marijuana laws, passed by the voters 10 years ago and further fine-tuned by the Legislature. It's harder to get a prescription and the law is designed to allow legal users to grow a small amount on their own or designate a single person to grow it for them.

The major problem with state medical-marijuana laws is that they directly conflict with federal law, which prohibits any and all use or distribution of marijuana. So states themselves are, in effect, playing at the margins of legality and no one really wants to set a bright line where growing, distributing or using medical marijuana is legal and where it is not. President Obama recently ordered the Justice Department to reduce its prosecutions of marijuana laws through the federal system. Certain counties and prosecutors choose to ignore it or go after only the most brazen violators.

State law allows for a very small amount of marijuana to be used each week. The defendant in the Kent case had more than 11 pounds. The judge ordered its return in weekly amounts distributed at the legal level. The defendant argues that this case was about the Constitution and the acceptance of interstate laws, but the reality is that the case is about cynically flouting the law and smugly making a point. Illegal grow houses and sales attract an element of crime, violence and disorder that can still exist in this "twilight zone" of marijuana use that is sort of legal, and sort of illegal.

Of course we will follow the judge's court order, because the rule of law is what police departments are all about. However, the confusion and conflict created by medical-marijuana laws diminish overall respect for the rule of law.

As a chief law-enforcement officer, I would encourage all of us to have a healthy and respectful debate about what place marijuana has in our society and if it should remain criminalized. That decision belongs to our elected representatives, and we will enforce laws based upon those choices. We ask only that the laws be clearly understood, supported, and we be allowed to enforce them uniformly and appropriately.