State considers what amount is legal for medicinal marijuana

By CURT WOODWARD | The Associated Press • Published July 06, 2007

Unlike the 11 other laws that protect medical marijuana users from a state criminal conviction, Washington has never set a specific limit for the amount of pot each patient is allowed to have.

In Oregon, patients are allowed up to 24 ounces of pot and two dozen plants at different stages of growth. New Mexico, the latest state to pass a medical marijuana law, plans to allow up to six ounces of marijuana, four mature plants and three immature seedlings.

"Law enforcement officers in the field were put in the position of throwing their hands up in the air and saying, 'We'll let the judge and the jury sort that out,' " said Alison Holcomb, director of the state ACLU's Marijuana Education Project.

Confusion in law

An activist group highlighted the confusion around Washington's law last year when it asked county officials how many plants medical marijuana patients were allowed for growing their own supply.

One county said the answer was easy: zero. Others had formulas that accounted for the different stages of plant growth.

"The truth is, nobody's number had any legal precedence or greater validity than your number or my number," said Tom McBride, executive secretary of the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.

In some cases, the gray area has served as a legal shield, allowing patients and their doctors to argue in court over how much marijuana they need, said Douglas Hiatt, a defense lawyer who specializes in medical marijuana cases. "We can't have an outside health authority dictate to our doctors how much a patient should use," Rogers said.

Adding to the debate, marijuana varies in potency, and different users use different amounts.

Ric Smith, a longtime medical marijuana user from Seattle, typically lights up before meals to treat the nausea that comes with his HIV medication.

In any given week, Smith burns through anywhere from seven grams to about an ounce. Without it, even the smallest disturbance can be too much to handle, he says.

"When you're at the top of the roller coaster and you just start over the other edge? It's that feeling, 24 hours a day," Smith said. "A pin drop, a bird flying by, a butterfly landing on your nose - anything will make you throw up."

Hiatt and others who will lobby health regulators this fall will cite a marijuana dosing study led by Dr. Gregory Carte, a University of Washington rehabilitation-medicine specialist.

Following the study's guidelines, Hiatt said, patients should be allowed anywhere from a half-pound to 2 1/2 pounds of marijuana in two months. If the Health Department goes drastically lower, Hiatt said a lawsuit could follow.

"I know the people of Washington state didn't want lawyers and judges and prosecutors arguing about little piddly details like this," Hiatt said. "Is the person sick? Yes. Are they using it with a doctor's permission? Yes. Then leave them alone."