Marijuana may be legal for suffering patients, but in Eastern Washington, the new state law has so far been all smoke.
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Vague definitions in the law leave police, physicians and patients in an odd game of cat-and-mouse, anxiously waiting for someone to make the first move.
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Patients themselves say medicinal pot might as well still be illegal. Many are struggling to find a safe source on their limited budgets. No health insurance plan covers medicinal marijuana in Washington, the sixth state to pass such a law.

All sides agree that the smoke is unlikely to clear until the law is tested in court. Until then, many patients in chronic pain may resort to making street-corner drug deals.

The Spokane woman first used marijuana in 1994 when multiple sclerosis left her unable to swallow. A daily pot brownie - along with 20 milligrams a day of Marinol, a derivative of the chemical in marijuana - calmed her throat spasms enough to avert the need for a feeding tube.

She remains dependent on the drug, but her doctor, fearing legal repercussions, won’t give her the required note authorizing marijuana use. She’s careful to avoid drawing police attention, but still worries.

"None of us want to go to jail," said Susan, who wouldn’t give her last name.

Problems are worst in Eastern Washington, according to a Seattle-based group that provides patients with medical marijuana and information on how to grow it.

At least 500 patients have gotten doctors’ permission to light up in the Puget Sound, but Green Cross co-founder Joanne McKee said her office has gotten nearly a hundred calls from Spokane-area residents unable to find a willing doctor.

"All we’ve heard from east of the Cascades, it’s like the law did not pass over there," said McKee.

Green Cross also hasn’t found a distributor in Spokane. The organization doesn’t mail marijuana because of postal laws.

McKee blames the slow start on "harassing" by police. "We have the feeling that you’re back in the Old West over there, where the cops arrest ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out."

Police say that much about the law is unclear and that they haven’t received guidance on how to handle possession cases involving medical marijuana.

One element is clear: the will of state voters. Last November, nearly 60 percent voted for the initiative, which gives doctors and their chronically ill patients a defense in state court against criminal prosecution.
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A doctor must say in writing that a patient has a "terminal or debilitating" illness, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, glaucoma or AIDS, and that conventional treatments have failed.

Studies show marijuana to be effective in controlling nausea and weight loss caused by AIDS or chemotherapy. Research on pot’s value in treating other illnesses is more controversial - and less conclusive.

Under the new law, patients can grow or possess their own 60-day supply, but can’t legally buy or sell it. All other drug laws remain intact.

The author of the initiative, Dr. Rob Killian of Seattle, is frustrated by law enforcement’s response. One of his patients, a blind man with AIDS, was arrested last month after Tacoma police found three marijuana plants next to his Braille typewriter and portable toilet.
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(Marijuananews note: Charges were Subsequently dropped.)

Prosecutors declined to press charges, but Killian’s patient, who was growing the pot legally, remained in jail for two days until police confirmed his condition.

"This isn’t about drugs. It’s about patients who are suffering," Killian said. "I’m a little frustrated that the bureaucrats aren’t getting it, that they’re threatening and harassing and treating us like criminals."

Authorities have challenged similar laws nationwide. Appeals are pending in California, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

State and federal prosecutors have tried to derail California’s Proposition 215 since voters approved it in 1996. A federal judge in 1997 issued a temporary injunction banning prosecutors from punishing doctors who prescribed marijuana. The injunction is being appealed.

But prosecutors scored a victory last fall. A federal judge ordered U.S. marshals to close the last of the state’s "cannabis clubs" that distributed marijuana to thousands of sick patients.

After voters in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington voted in November to allow medicinal marijuana, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a warning: possession, manufacture and distribution of pot remains a federal crime.

The commander of the Spokane Regional Drug Task Force, Sheriff’s Lt.

Chan Bailey, said the law doesn’t address how police should respond.

"The way I look at the law, we could still arrest, seize the plants, and they would have to present this defense" in court, he said.

Officers will verify doctors’ notes and could arrest those giving permission for marijuana treatment of bogus illnesses, he said. Doctors who help patients obtain or grow marijuana could also be charged.

Bailey said police are grappling with the uncertainty of the law, particularly the undefined "60-day supply" it allows. The Food and Drug Administration says that’s a pound. The California Attorney General’s Office draws the line at two ounces.

Killian says it should depend on an individual patient’s needs and the doctor’s discretion.

Bailey said police will give consideration to the emotional and physical turmoil an arrest could have on suffering people.

"It’s kind of touchy," he said. "We don’t want to be unnecessarily arresting and seizing things that are legally covered by this law. And on the other hand, we don’t want people to use this law to illegally grow or possess marijuana."

Authorities will soon get advice from the state prosecuting attorneys’ association on how to handle medical marijuana cases.

Until then, Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker expects plenty of confusion. "This brand-new law will be troublesome at the start," he said.

Even so, Thrower says he’s written notes for two patients acknowledging that they’re using marijuana. The notes aren’t prescriptions, but say the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks.

Thrower said he made those decisions carefully, after determining other treatments were unsuccessful.

Other doctors, while sympathetic to the pain of their patients, are watching and waiting.

"They don’t want to be the first ones to jump into the deep end of the pool and start writing prescriptions," Thrower said. "There’s a lot of uncertainty about what the law means."

Dr. Roberto Auffant, a Spokane anesthesiologist specializing in pain management, wants to see better clinical research on marijuana before he begins signing off on its use.

"I’m open-minded, but I try to work on a scientific basis," he said.