CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST OLALLA MAN WHO OWNS TACOMA MEDICAL POT DISPENSARY

TACOMA -- Pierce County prosecutors this week dropped drug charges
against an Olalla man who is the co-owner of a Tacoma medical
marijuana dispensary that was raided by a local drug task force last
year.

Guy L. Casey and Michael J. Schaef, the proprietors of Club 420
cooperative on Oregon Avenue in Tacoma, had been charged with drug
violations following a May raid by the West Sound Narcotics
Enforcement Team on three locations, including the dispensary and
Casey's home on Olympic Avenue in Olalla.

The enforcement team believed the dispensary was growing more plants
than authorized under the state medical marijuana law and that they
were selling the drug for a profit to nonauthorized patients.

Both men were charged with multiple felony counts, including unlawful
delivery of a controlled substance, unlawful manufacturing of a
controlled substance and unlawful possession of a controlled substance
with intent to deliver.

The case was built on the testimony of a confidential informant,
according to John Sheeran, chief of the drugs and vice unit in the
Pierce County Prosecutor's Office. But prosecutors began to "question
his veracity" and didn't feel they could successfully go forward with
the case.

"I'm just happy that the truth finally prevailed," said Christine
Casey of Olalla, Guy Casey's former wife and longtime friend. "He did
nothing wrong."

Christine Casey said the raid and subsequent legal fight have ruined
her and Guy financially. She said Guy is living in one of the
dispensaries because they couldn't keep their Olalla home.

The dispensary, however, is growing. Christine Casey said they just
opened a second location in Tacoma.