Gov. Chris Gregoire’s partial veto of a medical marijuana bill last month doesn’t change anything for North Olympic Peninsula dispensaries, police said.
The bill as signed into law April 29 extends arrest protection to users of medical marijuana, but the governor’s veto pen eliminated provisions that would officially recognize dispensaries as legal operations.
State law does not address dispensaries, which provide marijuana to qualifying patients. That has prompted authorities in some cities to crack down on them.
Some medical marijuana advocates believe Gregoire’s move will lead to additional shutdowns.
But police in Clallam County, which is home to the Peninsula’s three known dispensaries, said they are going to continue to give them a fairly wide berth.
“As things do stand, we do not anticipate any policy changes to medical marijuana,” said Port Angeles Police Chief Terry Gallagher.
Port Angeles is home to one storefront dispensary, Olympian Canna LLC, 303 Tumwater Truck Route.
“From what I know, I do not anticipate the clinic here in Port Angeles becoming a police issue,” Gallagher said.
The other two dispensaries — Rain Shadow Cannabis Co-Operative and Olympic Sinsemilla — operate from the Sequim area and make deliveries.
The Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team also is not planning any policy changes, said Cmdr. Ron Cameron.
“I can really say we are not targeting the dispensaries,” he said. “We are not going after them.
“But if we started getting complaints from people, we may start to investigate.”
Cameron also is the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office’s chief criminal deputy.
Although concerned about being stuck in a legal gray area, Bethany Rondeau said the real issue with the partial veto is that it may make it harder for qualified patients to find a reliable, non-black-market source for the drug.
Bethany operates the nonprofit Olympic Sinsemilla with her husband, Justin. (They prefer to call themselves “providers” and avoid using the word “dispensary” out of concern it will brand them as an illegal operation.)
“They say just go and grow it,” Bethany said. “But most of our patients can’t.”
Gregoire said she vetoed portions of the bill that would regulate dispensaries out of concern that state employees could then be prosecuted by the federal government, which views all use of marijuana as illegal.
Bethany said many of her clients are upset by that decision.
“They are not feeling like there is a lot of support for medical cannabis when the government is more concerned about state workers,” she said.
“It doesn’t mention the people who can’t sleep at night,” Bethany added, referring to customers who use marijuana to treat restless leg syndrome.
“We all take sleep for granted. But when no one can sleep more than an hour at night, it wears on them.”
The Seattle Times reported that some dispensaries are pooling funds to prepare legal defenses in response to the partial veto.
Bethany said they still feel comfortable that they operate within the law, though they would like the state to formally recognize them.
The owners of the other two dispensaries could not be reached for comment.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
