Pubdate: Mon, 19 May 2014
Source: USA Today (US)
Copyright: 2014 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/625HdBMl
Website: http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/index.htm
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/466
Author: Jolie Lee
Page: 3A

CASE AGAINST WASH. POT GROWERS CHALLENGES STATE LAW

Legal Haze Hangs Over Federal Trial

Five people face federal marijuana charges - in a state where 
marijuana is legal.

The group, called the Kettle Falls 5, will be tried for growing 68 
plants in rural eastern Washington. The trial is set for July 28.

Prosecutors contend the five conspired to manufacture and distribute 
marijuana. The defendants are also charged with possessing firearms 
as part of a drug-trafficking crime.

If convicted, they could face a minimum of 10 years in prison.

Despite Department of Justice guidance that people in compliance with 
state marijuana laws should not face federal prosecution, the legal 
realities are murky.

Federal prosecutors can exercise discretion, leaving open the 
possibility that people following state laws can still be prosecuted 
for a federal crime.

"It hangs over everybody. It's not just Washington, but Colorado and 
California and anywhere marijuana sales are happening," said Sam 
Kamin, director of the Constitutional Rights and Remedies Program at 
the University of Denver.

Washington state has at least 100,000 medical-marijuana users, 
according to Americans for Safe Access, an organization that 
advocates cannabis for therapeutic and research use.

In Washington, about 30 growers have received licenses from the state 
as retail pot shops are set to open in July, according to the state's 
Liquor Control Board, which issues the licenses.

Larry Harvey, 70, one of the defendants in the federal case, told USA 
TODAY Network that he never sold any marijuana - "not a bit of it" - 
and the pot he grew was for personal medical use.

Harvey and the four other defendants, including his wife and his 
wife's son, said they grew 68 marijuana plants on his 38-acre 
property in rural eastern Washington. The five patients were sharing 
resources to grow marijuana plants in a single garden.

Harvey has a bad knee from years of long-haul trucking, and his wife, 
Rhonda, suffers from arthritis, he said.

The group aroused federal authorities' suspicion after a sheriff came 
to Harvey's house in August 2012 to cut down some of his marijuana 
plants, saying he was not in compliance with the state's 45-plant 
limit for co-ops. Harvey said he thought he was following the state 
law, which says individuals can have up to 15 plants.
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