COURT DECISION FAILS TO UPHOLD LAW

I am responding to a story that ran in The Olympian titled "Wash.
court: Doc's pot OK doesn't preclude search."

With such a terrible budget situation in our state and the rising cost
of health care, our courts have handed down another bad policy made by
case law that is totally against the spirit of our electorate.

In 1998, the voters of Washington spoke loud and clear as to their
intent to allow compassionate use of medical marijuana by legal patients.

In 2007 the Legislature concurred with the people. They said
specifically in the statute that "the lawful use (of marijuana) would
not be impaired," as well as language to the effect that doctors would
be able to exercise their own judgment and patients and providers
would be able to "fully participate ... without fear of state criminal
prosecution."

Our courts have sent a signal to law enforcement to waste their
limited budgets and manpower on searching and arresting legitimate
medical marijuana patients in their homes, rather than focusing on
crime.

The efforts made by both the activist community and our elected
lawmakers to clarify the law have been injured by this decision. It
hurts me as a voter to think that eight of nine state justices are
unable to glean the intent of the law when it is so clearly defined by
statute.

What are the people supposed to do when obeying the law isn't
enough?

Jeremy Miller, Olympia Patient Resource Center