Medical marijuana law clarified in state Senate

OLYMPIA – State law on the use of medical marijuana would be clarified under a measure passed yesterday in the state Senate by a 39-10 vote. While the state’s voters approved the use of marijuana for specific medical purposes with Initiative 692 in 1998, some parts of the law were unclear and some qualifying patients have been subject to law enforcement action.

Senate Bill 6032, sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, would resolve this by clarifying requirements for patients and designated providers of medical marijuana. It would also direct the state Department of Health to define a 60-day supply of medical marijuana, the maximum permitted under state law for one person’s use, and to recommend to the Legislature how qualifying patients can safely, securely and consistently obtain the medical marijuana they need.

“This is a matter of compassion and common sense,” Kohl-Welles said. “We have heard from people suffering from intractable pain and terminal illnesses that the law designed to give them some relief hasn’t always been applied fairly. The bill makes it clear to law enforcement who can use and who can supply medical marijuana.”

Kohl-Welles worked with Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, prosecutors, law enforcement, patient advocates and the ACLU to craft an amendment for a vote by the Senate. “Pain and suffering are not partisan,” Kohl-Welles stated in floor debate, “nor is compassion.”

Initiative 692 aimed to allow the limited use of marijuana by patients with terminal or debilitating illnesses. Since then, patients asserting that they are using medical marijuana for these purposes have been challenged, as have some who have provided them with the product. The bill would allow qualifying patients and designated providers an affirmative defense if they comply with the requirements laid out in the bill.

In addition, the bill includes Crohn’s disease, hepatitis C and other diseases as those for which medical marijuana can be used.

The bill moves to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

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