TACOMA MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY OWNER OUT ON BAIL

Justin Prince, owner of Tacoma?s first medical marijuana dispensary
and a founder of Tacoma Hempfest, was released on bail Friday after
pleading not guilty to charges of growing and selling marijuana.

Justin Prince, owner of Tacoma?s first medical marijuana dispensary
and a founder of Tacoma Hempfest, was released on bail Friday after
pleading not guilty to charges of growing and selling marijuana.

Tacoma police arrested Prince on Thursday after several months of
monitoring his business, the Tacoma Hemp Co., located near South
Fourth Street and Tacoma Avenue South.

According to charging papers, Prince?s employees sold marijuana to
people who did not have valid authorization for medical marijuana, as
state law requires.

Pierce County prosecutors also charged that Prince had 40 marijuana
plants in his home and ?a few? growing in his backyard.

Washington?s medical marijuana law says that a qualified patient or
the patient?s ?designated provider? may possess no more than 15
marijuana plants.

Prince, 38, was charged with unlawful delivery of a controlled
substance, unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent
to deliver, and unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance.

Prince?s bail, set at $2,500, was paid by the marijuana advocacy group
Sensible Washington. It sponsored Initiative 1068, which would have
legalized marijuana use, possession and cultivation in the state. The
measure failed to collect enough signatures to make the ballot.

Sensible Washington field director Don Skakie, who arranged Prince?s
bail, characterized Prince as a martyr for the cause to legalize cannabis
=2E

?The movement to end penalties is mainstream,? Skakie said, ?and
people like Justin, who put themselves out there as leaders of the
movement, end up making themselves targets.?

Also charged as a result of the investigation were two Tacoma Hemp Co.
employees, Erica Lorenza King, 30, and Domisi Thrash, 37. King pleaded
not guilty to two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled
substance; Thrash pleaded not guilty to one count of unlawful delivery.

King?s bail was set at $2,500, Thrash?s at $10,000.

According to charging papers, undercover officers gained access to the
Tacoma Hemp Co. dispensary four times, using phony medical marijuana
approval forms and posing as patients.