ARREST CHALLENGES POT LAW

MONTESANO - Bruce Buckner sweats so much he changes shirts three or
four times a day. He feels like he's riding an emotional roller -
coaster - crying one minute, burning with rage the next. The 48 -
year - old says he's lucky to get an hour of solid sleep at a time.

Those are side effects of the prescription drugs the former Ocean
Shores resident was given to treat Crohn's Disease, an incurable
condition that destroys the intestines and causes severe cramping,
diarrhea, nutritional deficiencies and a wide range of other problems.

He says he's been able to manage the symptoms fairly well for the
last 29 years - since he was in college and a doctor suggested that
smoking marijuana might give him some relief. That all changed last
November when the Grays Harbor Drug Task Force busted him.

Buckner says he didn't think he was breaking the law, since
Washington voters approved Initiative 692 in 1998 permitting doctors
to "recommend" the use of medical marijuana. In 2001, he got a note
from a clinic saying that marijuana may be beneficial for him to use.

"For the first time in my life, I wasn't going to feel like a
criminal," Buckner said.

But that is exactly how investigators and prosecutors see him.
Buckner was charged with manufacturing marijuana and possessing one
gram of illegal psilocybin mushrooms. Trial is set for May 29, at
Grays Harbor Superior Court.

Law enforcement officials say Buckner was growing a lot more
marijuana than he needed for his personal use.

"He had enough marijuana to supply the City of Ocean Shores and
that's not an exaggeration," said Sgt. Dallas Hensley of the Grays
Harbor Drug Task Force.

Buckner says he smoked a lot of pot - about 8 to 10 grams a day - a
joint an hour. He grew it in the garage of the two - bedroom bungalow
where he lived with his dog, Chewbacca.

"After a while it loses its euphoric feeling," he said. "When you
smoke it a lot, you don't get high anymore. And that's what's good,
because it helps the symptoms of the disease and I can still function
and work."

He says he also supplied a friend in Sequim with 8 or so grams a day.
He says they both had medical recommendations to use pot and believed
they were following the law to the letter. The county Prosecutor's
Office sees it differently.

Officers seized 53 marijuana plants, 29 of which were mature enough
that officers estimated the plants would net $2,000 each on the
street. A pound of processed marijuana was found inside the home as
well as two scales, packaging materials and $10,000 in hundred dollar
bills, court papers say.

Buckner says he weighed his own doses. The money in his safe was "his
life savings," not from dealing drugs, but from working from his home
as a Web designer and doing some promotional work for a company in
Seattle where he designed ads, brochures and more.

Since his arrest, he has been evicted and has moved to Olympia. A
vehicle that was seized by police as "evidence" nearly four months
ago was just returned.

He says his health has taken a turn for the worse since he doesn't
have his pot. And because of that, his work has suffered, he said.

His weight has dropped from 120 to 112 pounds, he said.

"It has been very tough," Buckner said. "Even if I do win this trial,
it will take years for me to recover financially."

Grays Harbor Prosecutor Stew Menefee and deputy prosecutor William
Leraas say that Buckner was not in line with the law.

Leraas has filed a motion asking the court to not allow Buckner to
present his medical marijuana defense during trial.

"If I can't tell my side of the story to the jury, well then that
wouldn't be a fair trial," Buckner said.

Leraas says Buckner shouldn't be allowed to use the defense because
he didn't have proper authorization from a medical doctor as
described by the law. The note Buckner cites was vague and didn't
meet the legal criteria, Leraas said.

In addition, the deputy prosecutor says that at the time of the
arrest, Buckner didn't have the proper documentation he needed
authorizing him to distribute the drug to the Sequim man.

Buckner says he thought the medical recommendation that reads: "This
letter is to confirm that I support Mr. Buckner's use of marijuana
for treatment of Crohn's Disease not relieved by standard
treatments," satisfied legal requirements. It was written by a
physician's assistant on Aug. 1, 2001, and signed by a doctor.

He also has a letter from a naturopath recommending that he use
marijuana and an herbal tea to relieve the symptoms.

The state law doesn't recognize recommendations from naturopathic doctors.

Although I - 692 allows doctors to "recommend" marijuana for some
ailments, they cannot prescribe the drug or dosage and pharmacies
cannot distribute it because federal laws are still in effect banning
the drug.

Almost everyone agrees that the law is vague. It says a patient
shouldn't have "more than a 60 - day supply" although it doesn't
define what that amount is.

A recent state Court of Appeals ruling earlier this month upheld a
man's conviction in Stevens County because there was no evidence on
record concerning how much pot he needed, so there was no way to know
what constituted a 60 - day supply.

The appeals court suggested that doctors begin mentioning specific
amounts of marijuana. In the Eastern Washington case, 15 plants were
seized.

Buckner's medical recommendations didn't specify a dosage amount
either. Buckner believes doctors shy away from suggesting an amount
because that would be like issuing a prescription - and that would be
illegal.

When I - 692 was approved by voters, it was one of the "best times in
my life" Buckner said. Instead of dealing with "street people" and
paying about $15,000 to get pot from dealers every year, he just
started growing it himself. The self - employed Web site and T -
shirt designer said his life was really going good. He planned on
living in Ocean Shores - maybe buying a home of his own there.

When he was arrested, officials told him that they didn't want his
"type" in their community, making him feel like a "scumbag drug
dealer," he said. Buckner didn't try to hide his grow operation or
steal power from the PUD, he just paid the monthly $300 - plus
electricity bills. He said he was shocked when his quiet home was
surrounded by officers and he was pulled from his vehicle and treated
like a drug dealer. He was on his way to walk his dog on the beach
one November afternoon when officers pulled him over, handcuffed him
and took him to jail. "I tried to tell them it was medical marijuana
and that I was very sick, but they wouldn't listen and just kept
reading me my rights," Buckner said. "Then they handcuffed me; I was
so upset, I fainted. "They said I was faking it," he added. "I
wasn't."

He spent a night in jail and Chewbacca went to the pound. He thought
that when officials saw his letters from doctors that the charges
would be dropped - but they weren't.

Another attorney he worked with told him to plead guilty, but he
fired him and hired Aberdeen's Erik Kupka.

"I'm not going to admit to doing something wrong I don't think I
did," Buckner said. "And when a jury hears my story, and my doctors'
I think they will understand."

But Grays Harbor Prosecutor Menefee disagrees and says the trial
shouldn't center around "why" Buckner was taking marijuana, but
rather was his marijuana use and cultivation consistent with I - 692.

No one is disputing the man is sick, and court records contain
documentation that he suffers from the disease.

But defense attorney Kupka says it's not his client's fault that the
law designed to help people like Buckner is not clearly written.

"If prosecutors want to fight the war on drugs, then they need to
focus their attention on hardened criminals not helpless and dying
people like Mr. Buckner," Kupka said. "This case is no different than
a high school bully beating up on a helpless grade schooler."

Sgt. Hensley says the law is causing law enforcement officials
headaches as well. He says the "medical marijuana" alibi is becoming
more and more common during drug busts. Because the law is so
unclear, officials investigate and forward the findings to the
Prosecutor's Office.

"I can't make decisions in the field if the Legislature and scores of
attorneys can't come up with an answer," Hensley said. "The law needs
to be clarified."

Kupka believes the results of this trial will be watched by lawmakers
and other officials around the state.

"This case has far - reaching implications beyond the prosecution of
Mr. Buckner," he said. "It is a misguided attack on the terminally
ill and dying patients who have a legal and viable option to
alleviate the devastating effects of their disease."