Pubdate: Thu, 17 Jul 2008
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://www.seattletimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Sara Jean Green, Seattle Times staff reporter

POT RAID ANGERS MEDICAL-MARIJUANA SUPPORTER

Seattle Police Tuesday Raided a University District Office Used by 
Medical-Marijuana Patients, but the Operator Says He Has Been 
Following State Law and the Authorities Were Overzealous.

Martin Martinez says his U District office was a mess after police 
searched it Tuesday afternoon, seizing marijuana and patient records.

Martin Martinez says the small, private collective and outreach group 
he runs from a University District storefront are legal, a place for 
medical-marijuana patients to get help growing the medicine they need 
to manage their pain.

One of the earliest advocates for what became a voter-approved state 
medical-marijuana law 10 years ago, Martinez says he hasn't handed 
out pot, nor grown any in his cramped office on Northeast 50th Street 
just off University Way Northeast.

But Tuesday afternoon, Seattle police, armed with a search warrant, 
carted away marijuana and hundreds of private patient files, and tore 
down a wall in search of a marijuana patch that didn't exist.

King County prosecutors say the raid was justified. Martinez's 
neighbors have been complaining about a pervasive smell of pot, they 
said, so authorities need to figure out whether Martinez has been 
breaking the law.

But the episode has Martinez frustrated and his attorney furious. 
They accuse the police and prosecutors of being overzealous and 
refusing to honor the law that is supposed to let sick people use pot 
in peace. At a minimum, Martinez says, the authorities should let the 
whole thing blow over - and return his stuff.

"We're trying desperately to be legal, to stay alive and not have 
these conflicts," Martinez said. "Science and law have to come to 
terms, because the doctors are recommending cannabis and the police 
have got to get on the same page."

Martinez, 48, suffered severe neurological damage in a motorcycle 
accident in 1986. He later became one of the first people in King 
County to use medical necessity as a defense against prosecution for 
using marijuana.

In 1998, he helped promote the medical-marijuana initiative that 
voters approved overwhelmingly. It allows people with certain serious 
ailments to use marijuana if authorized by a physician.

For the past four years or so, he has operated Lifevine - a private 
collective of patients who work together to grow their own medical 
marijuana - and Cascadia NORML, a public-outreach organization that 
provides ID cards to medical-marijuana patients so they can show 
police that they have a legal right. He said the groups used three 
different locations in the U District on Northeast 55th Street and 
never had any problems.

In June, Martinez moved into the storefront on Northeast 50th Street.

One nearby business owner, who asked that her name not be published 
because she's concerned someone might retaliate, said the building 
immediately filled with the smell of pot. She said she hoped "the 
problem would just go away," but it didn't. So she and other 
neighbors complained to police.

Tuesday afternoon, Seattle police bicycle officers entered Martinez's 
office after smelling pot in various parts of the building. They 
called for backup and called prosecutors to obtain a search warrant.

According to Martinez, the police seized 12 ounces of marijuana buds 
and a large container of the less-potent leaf called "shake," which 
belonged to him and four other patients who happened to be there. And 
the police took 500 confidential patient files containing people's 
medical records and medical-marijuana prescriptions, Martinez said.

Martinez said one officer became convinced that Martinez was growing 
a garden in a secret room, so he ripped down part of a wall.

No plants were found. Martinez wasn't arrested. No charges have been filed.

"I'm just hopping mad," said Douglas Hiatt, Martinez's attorney, who 
arrived at the office during the search and called a deputy 
prosecutor to try to talk her out of executing the warrant. "It's 
stupid and was totally preventable."

Hiatt said Martinez is "super responsible" and makes sure he follows 
the letter of the law.

"I'd like for them to give him his stuff back and compensate him for 
anything they broke," Hiatt said. "If they decide to go forward with 
this [and file charges], we're going to have a real fight."

But Mark Larson, the chief criminal deputy for the King County 
Prosecutor's Office, said an investigation is warranted to determine 
whether Martinez was operating within the bounds of the state law.

"We're certainly aware people have a right to use medical marijuana," 
Larson said. "But that doesn't include dispensing, and it doesn't 
include possessing unlimited quantities."

State laws don't specify legal amounts or ways medical marijuana can 
be dispensed to others, he said. The state Legislature last year 
ordered the Health Department to establish maximum amounts each 
patient may possess, but the department's proposals are still being debated.

"We'd love to have these issues clarified so that people who need it 
get it, and people who operate outside the rules risk prosecution," 
Larson said.

The business owner who complained about the smell said she didn't 
know until after Tuesday's bust that Martinez's office was being used 
by medical-marijuana patients.

The woman said she's highly allergic to marijuana and suffered 
headaches and dizziness. She said the smell was warding away some of 
her customers.

She said she suspected someone was growing pot in the three-story 
building, which houses a mix of businesses and apartments.

"It sucks they are sick and that they have to take medical marijuana 
- - I wouldn't wish that on anyone," she said. "But it sucks that 
they're affecting an entire building."

Martinez said Wednesday that he had no idea the smell was so 
pervasive. "I'm really sorry. We didn't want to bother anyone. We're 
a very private group, which is why it doesn't say 'medical marijuana' 
on the door.

"We've tried to keep to ourselves." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake