MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROPOSAL DRAWS FIRE

A proposal by state health officials to limit medical-marijuana
patients to a pound and a half of pot plus a scattering of plants
drew heat from both advocates and law enforcement -- but for different reasons.

Advocates had argued for more than 70 ounces of harvested marijuana
and a 100-square-foot growing area; law-enforcement officials pushed
for a limit of three ounces of harvested pot, three mature plants and
six immature plants.

The official draft rule was released Tuesday by the state Department
of Health. The department was directed by the Legislature last year
to use medical and scientific information to define how much
marijuana patients with certain chronic, fatal or debilitating
diseases can possess under Washington's medical-marijuana law.

The rule would limit patients to 24 ounces of harvested marijuana,
six mature plants and 18 immature plants for the "60-day supply"
allowed in the law.

An earlier Health Department recommendation called for a limit of 35
harvested ounces and a 100-square-foot growing area. But it was
headed off by Gov. Christine Gregoire, who thought the amount was too
large and wanted more input from law enforcement and medical providers.

Although Tuesday's filing starts a public-comment period, the Health
Department, which already has gotten an earful from angry activists
and worried law-enforcement officials, is hoping this draft will be the last.

The current proposal for a pound and a half of pot plus plants mimics
a 2006 amendment to Oregon's medical-marijuana law, also passed in
1998. That amendment raised the amount of marijuana patients could
possess from three harvested ounces and seven total plants, including
no more than three mature plants.

The Washington rule, like the long, difficult process used to produce
it, was immediately controversial.

"Why did they spend all that time and money and energy if we were
just going to do the same as Oregon?" asked Joanna McKee of Green
Cross Patient Co-op, a medical-marijuana patient-advocacy group. "If
we wanted to be a part of Oregon, we wouldn't be a separate state."

And, she added: "What happened to the science?"

Steve Sarich, director of CannaCare, which provides legal assistance
and starter plants to patients, said the low plant limits would force
patients to obtain marijuana on the "black market" or to grow an
illegal number of plants to get enough marijuana.

"This will create more patient felons in the state of Washington,
because no one will ever be able to grow their own medicine and stay
within those limits," he said.

Cowlitz County Sheriff Bill Mahoney's response to the proposed limits
was terse: "Oh my." Asked to elaborate, he said: "Well, obviously, I
think it's way too much." But it's a complex compromise, he added.
"From an enforcement standpoint, some number is better than no number."

Law-enforcement officials earlier said their main concern is being
able to distinguish legitimate patients from those hiding behind the
law to grow and sell large amounts of pot.

Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, who sponsored the bill to set the
60-day amount, said she was concerned the proposed limits are "more
restrictive than what had been previously discussed." She noted the
"values of compassion and empathy that are at the basis of this law,"
and urged all stakeholders to express their views to the Health Department.

Washington's law, passed by voters in 1998, allows patients with
certain diseases to possess a 60-day supply of marijuana with a
doctor's authorization. But the amount was never spelled out, leading
to confusion and conflict between law enforcement and patients.

Karen Jensen, an assistant secretary for the Department of Health,
said the task was "very difficult and challenging" because there was
no definitive "FDA study" spelling out dosing amounts.

The draft filed Tuesday reduced amounts earlier considered by the
Health Department and revealed to Gregoire's office in February. At
that time, health officials said they planned to recommend 35 ounces
of cultivated marijuana plus 100 square feet of plant-growing area.

Staffers for Gregoire, a former state attorney general who is up for
re-election this fall, told Health Department officials the amount
appeared to be on the high side, and that law enforcement and medical
providers should be consulted.

Last month, the Health Department convened an advisory panel that
included law-enforcement officials, advocates and only one doctor --
a public-health HIV/AIDS expert who does not care for patients directly.

Department of Health spokesman Donn Moyer said other medical
providers did not respond to requests to take part. "It wasn't for
lack of trying" to engage them, he said.

The filing of the draft rule starts a rule-making process and a
public-comment period. A hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 25 in Tumwater.