Operators hope new laws clear up ‘gray' areas, law enforcement has concerns about usage
By RYAN LANCASTER
Staff Reporter
Among those closely watching the fate of a bill that would regulate the state's medical marijuana industry are Airway Heights officials, who have met with one dispensary owner interested in opening up shop in the city.
Senate Bill 5073 passed the state Legislature last week and now sits on the desk of Gov. Chris Gregoire, who has said she won't sign it for fear that state workers could be held liable for violating federal law. Supporters, however, say it would finally provide clear guidelines to an industry that has operated in a legal haze since 1998, when Washington voters approved the use of the drug by people with certain debilitating conditions.
But the 13-year-old law is vague on dispensaries, and most of those in Spokane County have closed in the wake of a crackdown on operators. Spocanna Care owner Greta Carter decided to temporarily close her north side dispensary out of respect for the law as it now stands, but in the interim she's pursuing a second location in Airway Heights.
“We understand that we operate in a gray area and there's room for interpretation that we operate illegally,” she said. “There's a conflict there and so we're anxious to see that the bill passes.”
Carter labels herself a “conservative Republican” who took a second look at medical marijuana after her son was diagnosed with cancer and found relief through the plant. She researched it for years before concluding that was a legitimate medication.
Spokane County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan said while he and most law enforcement officers would probably agree with her, a concern is how many are using marijuana solely for medical reasons. “I don't think anyone down here thinks some people aren't being helped by this drug, but is it an issue of 2 percent of the people? Are we just legalizing drug deals for the other 98 percent who use it recreationally?” he said.
Reagan said busting medical marijuana providers is low on the county's list of priorities, but until further notice it's still on the list.
Even if Gregoire does sign the bill, Airway Heights Mayor Patrick Rushing said the city must examine zoning issues and potential impacts to the community before handing a business license to Spocanna Care. They'll also take federal rules into account.
“(Dispensary owners) seem to be hanging their hat on the state legislation, but the feds have said no,” Rushing said. “Our police chief has said that he will arrest them and shut them down if they open here.”
Airway Heights Councilman Matthew Pederson has said he wants the city to prepare for how it might handle state legalization, and how they might keep dispensaries away from schools and churches. “If I had my say (dispensaries) would be (barred from) the community as a whole but I know that is not always feasible,” he said during a March council meeting. “If we were faced with that type of business, before it comes out we need to ask what are we going to do to make sure our community is protected as well as it can be?”
Carter's hope is that all those involved will take a look at other states where medical marijuana dispensaries are allowed to operate and have been largely ignored by the federal government. After a 20-year career in international banking Carter is familiar with the sort of regulations that would come with SB 5073, regulations that she believes would both protect patients and bring the medical marijuana industry “out of the shadows and into the light.”
The man many credit for bringing the industry to this point in Spokane is Darren McCrea, who founded one of the first local dispensaries in 2002 and continues to be actively involved with the movement despite being arrested on charges ranging from delivery, possession and manufacture of a controlled substance. McCrea, who has rheumatoid arthritis and a seizure disorder, said he's experienced the positive effects of marijuana firsthand, recounting how the drug replaced the cocktail of painkillers, anti-inflamitories and immune stabilizers he used to take.
Billy Pool, a member of McCrea's group called “The Original Spocannabis,” said years of suffering from late stage Hepatitis C and a host of other ailments made him barely able to stand on crutches before he began using marijuana seven years ago.
“I should've died two years back,” Pool said. “I was strung out and that's the only way they were treating me was with pain pills and tranquilizers. I dropped from 240 pain pills a month to less than 60 now.”
Pool, 56, said he now helps terminally ill people learn how to grow plants for themselves. Like Carter, he hopes the state will start regulating the drug in order to allow dispensaries to resume operation.
“We need the shops back open or run by the state or however they want to come up with it,” he said. “You look in people's eyes that have been helped by this and that right there will tell you a whole lot. Where they were dead in the eyes, they had no hope, they were strung out on this that and the other; you see sunshine in them right now.”
Rushing said the city is waiting to see what happens before making any moves. “If the feds and the state say it's a good idea, if medical marijuana is wanted in our community, then we will follow the appropriate steps,” he said. “We're paying attention to the laws.”
Ryan Lancaster can be reached at [email protected].
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