LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT: NEW GARDEN ORDIANCE WILL HAVE LITTLE EFFECT ON US

ELLENSBURG -- The job of local law enforcement officers won't change
under Washington state's new law that allows medical cannabis
collective gardens with regulation by local jurisdictions.

"This doesn't change anything for us," said Capt. Dan Hansberry of the
Ellensburg Police Department.

State law has regulated the legal use of medical marijuana for a while
now, and EPD has established protocols to handle it.

"We already have an investigative process when we have complaints of
people growing marijuana in their house," Hansberry said.

"It's really not too different from what the law was," Hansberry said.
"What it used to be, you could grow your own for yourself."

In a collective garden, up to 10 patients can grow cannabis for
medicinal purposes. A single garden can have no more than 45 plants.

Some of the same complications with old laws exist with the new law,
such as the legitimacy of documentation, Hansberry said. "Trying to
determine the person has a real letter from a real physician," he said.

The permitting process will be run through the city's Community
Development planning division. The police will come into the picture
if those operating a collective garden are violating the law, be it
too many plants, growing outdoors, selling cannabis or other violations.

"It's just as complicated as it was before," Hansberry
said.

"It's against federal law. We go under state law, so we're in that
same middle ground that we've been in all along. We will continue to
enforce laws that are on the books."

In the county, collective gardens are permitted under state law, too.
Kittitas County has not adopted its own regulations for collective
gardens like Ellensburg has, but may do so soon.

Kittitas County Undersheriff Clay Myers said enforcing medical
marijuana laws is a balancing act between state and federal
regulations and a lack of clarity in definitions.

"As far as the law goes, there seems to be something changing nearly
every year," Myers said. "There's a whole stack of proposed
legislation. Our biggest request is give us clarity in the law."

States are not required to enforce federal law or prosecute people for
engaging in activities prohibited by federal law, but state laws will
not protect an individual from legal action by the federal government.

Kittitas County Prosecutor Greg Zempel echoed Myer's statements,
saying there is a gray area surrounding medical marijuana.

In terms of federal vs. state law, Zempel tells people who grow their
own medical marijuana that the feds probably aren't going to bother
them, but "I think the federal agencies have been getting a bit testy
with cities and states of late over medical marijuana."

Gov. Chris Gregoire vetoed parts of the bill that would open public
employees to federal prosecution, stating in her veto letter, "No
state employee should be required to violate federal criminal law in
order to fulfill duties under state law."

Zempel compared issuing collective garden permits to building permits.
If a government worker issues an illegal building permit, the worker
wouldn't likely be prosecuted, but rather the person using the illegal
permit.

If a government worker issues a collective garden permit that's
illegal under federal law, the person using the illegal permit is more
likely to be prosecuted than the worked.

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County may adopt rules soon

Paul Jewell, chairman of the Board of County Commissioners, said there
has not yet been a discussion at the county level about cannabis
collective gardens, but the BOCC has a special meeting planned at 1:30
p.m. Tuesday in the commissioner's conference room at the Kittitas
County Courthouse.

At the meeting, commissioners will discuss cannabis collective gardens
in the county with Brian Grimmer, a qualified medical cannabis patient
and medical cannabis activist.

Under state law, collective gardens are legal within the county, but
the BOCC can choose to adopt additional regulations much like
Ellensburg did.