Wash. marijuana law puzzles many

Unlike some states, Washington requires patients to grow marijuana themselves or designate a caregiver to grow it for them. For many, that’s unrealistic: They’re too sick to grow cannabis themselves and don’t have the thousands of dollars it can cost for a caregiver to set up a proper growing operation.

So they have devised their own schemes, claiming to meet the letter of the law in establishing collectives or storefront dispensaries - methods that are making police and prosecutors increasingly uncomfortable.

“The spirit of the law would recognize the necessity of having small cooperative ventures,’’ said Dan Satterberg, the prosecutor in King County, where Seattle is. “But if they get past a certain size, become a magnet for neighborhood violence, or you get other people showing up to buy marijuana who are not permitted to under the law, then there’s tension.’’

Three years ago, Satterberg’s office declined to prosecute a man who was growing 130 plants for 40 people. But a case this year may be testing his tolerance: He hasn’t decided whether to charge a hepatitis patient caught with 200 plants, which he said supplied more than 100 other patients.

Some activists and the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington recently began discussions with Seattle police over whether to limit the size of marijuana cooperatives.

In Spokane this month, police shut down a medical marijuana dispensary - the first such raid in the state - and arrested the two owners. They warned a half-dozen other dispensaries to close as well, and the raid quickly drew protests from patients. The raid has set up a high-profile court fight.

Approved by voters in 1998, the law allows doctors to recommend cannabis as a treatment for a series of debilitating or terminal conditions - a smaller range of illnesses than California’s law. A year ago, the state issued guidelines to give police and patients an idea of how much pot was permitted: Up to 15 plants and 24 ounces of dried marijuana per patient. People can have more if they demonstrate need.