THE question whether patients should be allowed to use medical marijuana without fear of criminal prosecution was settled last November when an overwhelming majority of voters approved Initiative 692. However, knotty questions of how to protect patients’ rights and ensure consistent enforcement of the law remain.

It’s up to legislators to clarify the law this session without gutting the popular measure’s primary intent.

I-692 included a clear requirement that patients and their primary caregivers show "valid documentation for any law-enforcement official who questions the patient regarding his medical use of marijuana."

Some medical-marijuana proponents view any attempt to standardize those documents - and spell out the details of when and how the papers are presented - as unacceptable government encroachment. But police need a reliable, uniform medical statement in hand to avoid second-guessing.

Another provision in need of clarification is what constitutes a 60-day supply of marijuana, which I-692 states is the legal limit for patient possession. State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle), a strong supporter of I-692, has proposed a bill allowing the state Department of Health to write rules that would address issues such as supply and documentation. A counterproposal in the Legislature goes too far in requiring doctors to notify the state every time they advise a patient to try marijuana as medicine.

The law was intended to give doctors and patients the freedom to make private medical decisions with minimal government interference. It needs to be tweaked, not turned over. Kohl-Welles’ proposal is the more reasonable plan to fine-tune I-692’s provisions while maintaining the law’s spirit of compassionate public policy.

Copyright: 1999 The Seattle Times Company

From The Associated Press
February 23, 1999

Pot law backer shuns legislative tinkering

OLYMPIA—The Seattle doctor who sponsored Washington’s voter-approved law legalizing the medical use of marijuana said Monday he’s wary of legislative attempts to "clarify" the measure’s impact.

Initiative 692, approved by 59 percent of voters in November, allows people suffering from certain terminal and debilitating illnesses to grow and smoke pot. Physicians who advise qualifying patients about the risks and benefits of marijuana use also are protected from prosecution.

But state prosecutors are looking for more guidance.

They’re backing a bill in the Senate that would require doctors to notify the state every time they advise patients to try marijuana. The measure also would allow employers to fire workers for medically approved marijuana smoking if it poses a safety risk or leaves them too stoned to work.

Dr. Rob Killian, the physician who sponsored the initiative, said lawmakers should leave the new law alone, especially since it already faces obstacles from the federal government.

"It’s an outrageous attempt to make this bill less effective in this state," Killian said. "It puts a heavier burden on physicians, who are already nervous about federal restrictions.

"This is a delayed attempt to overturn the will of the people."

Senate Bill 5771, sponsored by Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, has not been scheduled for a hearing.

Instead, the Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee plans to have a hearing Wednesday on Senate Bill 5704, a milder proposal that instructs the state Department of Health to write rules that clarify provisions of the law.

The agency could use authority granted under SB5704 to determine what constitutes a 60-day supply of pot, the vague standard outlined in the new law, said Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, the measure’s sponsor.

The Seattle Democrat, an ardent supporter of the new law, also would like the agency to consider whether a group such as the Green Cross Patient Co-op, which runs an underground clinic in Seattle that dispenses marijuana to the sick, can continue its work.

The law allows patients to name a caregiver who can grow or otherwise provide marijuana for them, but it limits each caregiver to one patient.

Killian predicted that neither measure will pass since state law requires a two-thirds majority of both houses to amend an initiative within two years of its approval.

The Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys and the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs are the main forces behind the Hargrove measure.
See
Patients In Eastern Washington State Continue To Live In Fear; "We’re all scared."

Law enforcers need more information about who’s smoking pot legally and how much marijuana they can possess, said Larry Erickson, executive director of the sheriffs and police chiefs group.

"We don’t want to interfere with what the people’s initiative does," Erickson said. "But we think we need to have some guidelines."

The police group prefers the Hargrove measure over the less-restrictive Kohl-Welles bill, he added.

The Washington State Medical Association recently came up with a standardized form physicians can use when recommending that patients try marijuana to relieve suffering. That should clear up one area of concern by helping doctors feel more comfortable about complying with the law without getting in trouble with the federal government, Killian said.

A second sticking point, how to distribute the drug, must be resolved by the federal government, he said.

"I don’t think we need to tweak it anymore," Killian said. "Let’s give it some time to work."

Killian said he supports a second measure scheduled to be discussed at Wednesday’s hearing.