AGENTS RAID MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCACY OFFICE

Plants, Computers and Cash Seized in Everett

Drug enforcement agents raided the Everett headquarters of an
advocacy group for medical marijuana patients, confiscating what
police documents say was more than 1,000 plants and computers that the
owners say contain personal information of about 200 men and women
authorized to use the drug for medicinal purposes.

So far, no one has been arrested or charged with a crime. Fearful of
potential repercussions and unsure of the officers' ultimate aim,
patients in the CannaCare network of marijuana users have been "laying
low," said one, terrified that they may be prosecuted for using a
substance authorized by their physicians.

"Who knows what they're doing with our information?" said Steve
Newman, who has multiple sclerosis and has been associated with
CannaCare for two years. "It makes me concerned -- really, really
concerned. But we're pretty helpless. Nobody can say much about it."

A detective assigned to the federally funded West Sound Narcotics
Enforcement Team, which launched Friday's raid, scoffed at the notion
that CannaCare -- run out of the home of medical marijuana advocate
Steve Sarich -- was anything other than a drug-dealing enterprise.
Detective Roy Alloway said it was "absurd" to think that the number of
plants Sarich was tending would be covered by his medical
authorization. "It's clear that Sarich is a guy that's selling drugs,"
said Alloway, who noted that state law allows no more than a 60-day
supply of marijuana for medical use.

The amount found in Sarich's home, he said, was "not even close." Long
a thorn in the side of law enforcement for his vocal, thumb-in-the-eye
advocacy style, Sarich, 56, insists that the government is merely
harassing patients -- himself included -- who have a legitimate right
to use the drug for managing pain due to multiple sclerosis, cancer
and a host of other illnesses. Washington voters approved the use of
marijuana for certain medical conditions through a citizens initiative
in 1998.

"Since they don't like medical marijuana, this is an attack on the
people that support it," said Sarich, who insists he's no drug dealer.
The nominal sums CannaCare collects go into supporting medical
marijuana users, he said. Only a few ounces of pot were found in the
raid, and Sarich said the bulk of the seized crop was unrooted
cuttings and starter plants. He also said the $1,020 drug agents
seized in the raid was for his $1,103.56 Snohomish County PUD bill.
The raid's ultimate end remains unclear. Alloway said he referred the
information to federal authorities because of the pot-growing
operation's size. Jeff Eig, spokesman for the Seattle division of the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, declined to comment.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site that the DEA
said federal agents had raided 11 medical marijuana outlets in Los
Angeles on Wednesday and seized several thousand pounds of marijuana,
along with weapons and money.

Washington law allows possession of marijuana in doctor-approved cases
but makes no provision for obtaining it, forcing patients who cannot
grow enough to buy from others -- sometimes resorting to patronizing
street-corner dealers. Sarich, however, has flouted the statute by
announcing that CannaCare will provide pot plants to patients. He and
an associate, John Worthington, whose Renton home was also raided last
week, said the police action was politically motivated
retaliation.

Sarich also believes that because the state has no list of registered
medical marijuana patients, CannaCare was targeted because it has
contact information for more than 1,200 users.

That incursion into patient privacy worries advocates at the American
Civil Liberties Union at least as much as the bust itself. Alison Chin
Holcomb, director of the Washington ACLU's Marijuana Education
Project, said Sarich might have forced the government into it. "He
certainly wasn't afraid of getting the attention of law enforcement,"
she said. "He put himself out there on the radar."

Worthington recently sent documents alleging drug-enforcement excesses
by Alloway to the state House and Senate judiciary and health care
committees. He sent another letter to the State Patrol, accusing the
detective of tampering with evidence.

"They went after me because I'm an activist, and I've been terrorized
out of growing," said Worthington, whose home contained six marijuana
plants, according to a Kitsap County Sheriff's Office document. "I
can't have my kids frisked like they're criminals. That was
disgusting. I'm not Al Capone -- I'm a dad."

Alloway, who works for the Bremerton Police Department, denied the
allegations of wrongdoing on Wednesday.