New Wash. legal pot law jeopardizes prosecutions

April 24, 2013 @ 1:42 pm

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SEATTLE (AP) - Prosecutors and crime lab scientists say a little-noticed provision in Washington's new law legalizing recreational marijuana has jeopardized their ability to go after any pot crimes at all, and they're calling for an immediate fix in the Legislature.

The group is suggesting a change in the legal definition of marijuana, and they have the support of the Seattle lawyer who drafted the initiative.

The problem stems from a part of the law meant to distinguish marijuana from industrial hemp, which is grown for its fiber. The law defines marijuana as having more than 0.3 percent of a certain intoxicating compound, called delta-9 THC.

Scientists with the state crime lab say that often, even potent marijuana can have less than 0.3 percent. It's only when heated or burned that another compound, THC acid, turns into delta-9 THC and the pot achieves its full potency.

"When you smoke it, it would be very potent, but before that, it would be considered hemp under the law," said Erik Nielson, standards and accountability manager for the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab's Forensic Lab Services Bureau.

That means that if people get caught with more than an ounce of marijuana _ the amount adults are allowed to have under the law _ or if police bust illicit grow operations, prosecutors might not be able to prove the plants or material seized meets the definition of marijuana.

"It would have an impact on our ability to enforce the law," said Ian Goodhew, deputy chief of staff to King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.

The King County Prosecutor's Office has delayed filing charges in several cases until the law is fixed, Goodhew said. But even then, defense attorneys could argue that their clients weren't violating the law as it was written at the time of their offense.

Although the crime lab could analyze the delta-9 THC content by burning it, that would essentially tamper with the evidence seized in any case. Another option would be to buy expensive new equipment that can test for the compound without burning the plant. But money is tight, and the lab would have to spend months developing protocols for using that method.

Instead, the prosecutors and crime lab scientists worked to draft legislation to fix the problem by changing the definition of marijuana. The measure, introduced Tuesday, would define marijuana as parts of the cannabis plant containing more than 0.3 percent by dry weight of combined delta-9 THC and THC acid. The bill is due to have a public hearing in a House committee Thursday.

Washington voters passed Initiative 502 last fall, joining Colorado as the first states to legalize recreational marijuana for adults over 21, and to allow the sale of taxed pot at state-licensed stores.

Under Washington law, voter-approved initiatives cannot be amended within two years after passage unless lawmakers approve it by a two-thirds vote in both houses.

The proposed fix for the marijuana definition is not considered controversial. It has the support of Alison Holcomb, who drafted the initiative.

"Obviously it was never the intent to make it impossible to be able to prosecute cases that fall outside what I-502 intended," Holcomb said Wednesday.

Randy Oliver, chief scientist at the Seattle marijuana-testing facility Analytical 360, said it makes sense to define marijuana by the combined amounts of THC acid and delta-9 THC. However, he said, the concern may be overstated.

He said most marijuana does test above 0.3 percent delta-9, although sometimes freshly cut bud that hasn't been dried does test below it. Of the last 600 samples his lab reviewed, the average pre-heating content of delta-9 was 0.6 percent.

___

Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (33)


  • Add A Comment

  • maplefish wrote...
    The real problem is
    August 14, 2012 2:15 pm
    Obama, Holder and the Feds will never let "WE THE PEOPLE" legalize weed. Period. The PharamCo's own those guys and thre is way to much money at stake. Again, see U.S. Patent # 6,630507. The Feds are NEVER going to allow us to Legalize Marijuana. Sorry to be the buzz killer....
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • shark75 wrote...
    The problem is marijuana, or cannabis (again, nice rebranding) makes people lazy and stupid.
    August 14, 2012 2:20 pm
    Take "Maplefish" for example. The last thing this country of self-entitled crybabies needs is something that is going to give them more of an excuse not to want to work.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    Hey sharkass
    August 14, 2012 3:26 pm
    I've built 3 successful businesses, raised 4 kids, own 2 homes and am comfortably retired. I pay more in taxes than you probably will make in a lifetime and I don't smoke weed. I am for the legalization, taxation and job creation that's cannabis would provide the country. Not to mention taking $billions in drug money from the Mexican Cartels and freeing up prison space for actual criminals. You sir are a grade A moron!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CldWtrSrf wrote...
    Hey shark, you dummy....I explained this to you before
    August 14, 2012 9:41 pm
    Cannabis is the PROPER SCIENTIFIC NAME FOR IT, also know as Binomial Nomenclature or simply Latin Name. So I will re-post what I wrote before because obviously you didn't read it, or many books for that matter obviously. "It was "re-branded" as you put it by fear mongers and "Titans" of Industry that really wanted Industrial Hemp made illegal so that it wouldn't threaten their monopoly on paper mills, textile and fuel. They lumped hemp in with cannabis, called it all marijuana and said that those lazy Mexicans were getting high and raping white women, so we need to make it illegal. Then their monopolies got to operate with absolutely no competition and all innovation in the hemp industry came to a halt. Go read a book, there is no excuse for being as ignorant as so many are in this modern day of the internet." So maybe you should go spark up a joint and like I said before READ SOME BOOKS!!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Citizen of Krazy Town wrote...
    That is the most confusing thing I have ever read
    August 14, 2012 2:35 pm
    I got nothing of value from that at all
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Highlander420 wrote...
    I was there
    August 14, 2012 7:08 pm
    I heard about this from a posting on Facebook, so I went to check it out. It was very confusing and I'm a medical patient who tries to stay informed on all this! A point I tried to bring up to reporters after the fiasco was that people who operate a collective garden can do it two ways, one by licensing for commercial sales, one run only for the benefit of more than 2 patients. Both are legal according to how their cities laws and licensing. In my case, there was 3 adult people living in our home, all including myself had doctors authorizations. We did not charge money to each other or sell it. Just grew it for our own consumption. I was raided, two years later case dismissed. Under the law, we were operating as a collective garden. Under 502, that would not be allowed, and instead of having charges dismissed, I would be in jail. We would be forced into the tax/regulate portions and probably end up not being able to because we are on limited incomes. I can't afford to buy it in the stores now. I really won't be able to under 502. Not only that, but with the counties being limited in the number of licensed state pot stores, we would be left out because it was in Okanogan County, the county with the lowest population and probably the highest average number of medical cannabis patients in Washington State. If zoning only allowed for one or two pot shops, everyone else who wants to join together with 3 or more will be forced to stop. My point is, hey...remember when you voted yes for medical marijuana? That was a HUGE victory because we legalized it in Washington State. It's easy to get a license if you really want to smoke pot, just ask the cops and mainstream news. Then you can grow your own plants (15), you can have 24 ounces! Plus you can go buy some from the pot stores that charge a tax! AND...we already have impairment laws on the books for DUIs on cannabis! So what's the problem here? Bad attitude? Too lazy?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    Ditto...
    August 14, 2012 8:30 pm
    and I don't care.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SeattleNative wrote...
    @Citizen
    August 14, 2012 3:34 pm
    I'm pretty sure the people involved in the story have no idea what just happened, either.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • murr wrote...
    maplefish
    August 14, 2012 5:40 pm
    Thanks for sharing the other side I was not aware of, but I see your point in your first post.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    maplefish vs sharkass . . . .
    August 14, 2012 6:55 pm
    LOL.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • duh wrote...
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    August 15, 2012 8:38 pm
    kant reed wrds wid mur thun 2 leturz
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Newton wrote...
    What do we have here.
    August 14, 2012 7:30 pm
    Marijuana is a great idea for all Americans. It makes a great fuel. Henry ford made it for his cars for years. Federal Laws have Nothing to do with this since State Laws Trump Federal fake laws.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • deltta wrote...
    dude
    August 14, 2012 7:55 pm
    Yet another doper who cant keep a job
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • nwskiergirl wrote...
    Maplefish is correct
    August 14, 2012 8:12 pm
    Many many years ago our government made it illegal to sell any natural product claiming that it "cured" any sort of ailment. Why? Because they can't make as much money taxing an orange distributor as they can if they allow one of their buddies in PharmCo to create a Vitamin C pill and sell it to us telling us it is the only way to CURE what ails us.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • shark75 wrote...
    MapleAss and nwskiergirl...
    August 14, 2012 8:40 pm
    ...And the pilgrims used hemp rope on the Mayflower and it has a thousand uses and the FDA blah blah blah. You mean to tell me Fishass is pasting his stoner patent number in every mynw.com article that has anything remotely to do with weed and I should believe he's not a stoner? That legalizing grass is going to solve our budget problems? So we can legalize it and create yet another government agency, maybe the stoner wing of the IRS, and all will be hunky dory? All its gonna do is give pot smoking losers easy access to grass and get a bunch more people roasting bowls and getting fired from their jobs, driving impaired and knock our country down another notch on the productivity scale. Nice try... I think you stoners have something to look forward to however, Obama can motivate his stoner voters (who normally wouldn't make it out to the polls) by bribing, I mean promising, to legalize the Mary Jane and the rest will be history.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • JustAnotherFish wrote...
    "Pot Smoking Losers"
    August 14, 2012 9:00 pm
    ...are going to smoke whether it's legal or not. Your lazy, stereotypical rhetoric is old. You're a broken record offering nothing but angry, archaic arguments against something as harmless as a bottle of Nyquil, only completely natural.

    What's the real beef you ignorant masses have? Detest the idea of someone having more fun and more freedom?

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    SharkASS
    August 15, 2012 12:43 pm
    You're still a Moron! It should be a choice of the People and the choice of the individual. There are LAWS against impairment and companies have rules. Maybe you'd be happier living in a middle Eastern Country where they'll cut your head off for smoking a harmless plant. You are a narrow minded idiot. Now go home and watch Reefer Madness.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }