Seattle Police Department Issues Medical Marijuana Guidelines
Washington voters in 1998 passed Initiative 692 to allow patients with certain terminal or debilitating diseases to possess and use marijuana for medicinal purposes. But ensuring police adopt...
View ArticleSupreme Court Says Feds Can Prosecute Medical Marijuana Even Though State...
On June 6, 2005, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling that upholds the federal ban on the medicinal use of marijuana. The case of Gonzales v. Raich was decided on a 6-3 vote. This means that...
View ArticleCourt Ruling Points to Need to Clarify State's Medical Marijuana Law
The Washington Supreme Court today rejected a seriously ill woman’s plea to use medical marijuana to alleviate chronic pain, even though she had a doctor’s written recommendation. The 6-3 ruling points...
View ArticleSentencing of Medical Marijuana Patient Shows Need to Reform State Law
Skamania County Superior Court Judge E. Thompson Reynolds today sentenced a seriously ill medical marijuana patient to 60 days of electronic home detention, despite the fact that she had her doctor’s...
View ArticleMedical Marijuana Patient Records Are Private, Court Rules
A federal court in Yakima has quashed a subpoena that demanded the medical information of 17 medical marijuana patients, citing the need to protect their privacy. The ACLU represented the medical...
View ArticleNew State Rule Clarifies 60-Day Supply of Medical Marijuana
In 1998, the people of Washington passed the Medical Use of Marijuana Act (I-692) to enable patients to use marijuana for medicinal purposes, with their physician's recommendation. Yet 10 years later,...
View ArticleWA v. Fry
Body: The Washington Supreme Court ruled against a patient arrested for possessing marijuana despite his having a doctor's recommendation for medicinal use of marijuana. The court found that police had...
View ArticleMedical Marijuana
Body: Sponsor: Sen. Jeanne Kohl-WellesThe bill adds physician assistants, osteopathic physician assistants, naturopaths and advanced registered nurse practitioners - all the medical professionals...
View ArticleACLU Supports Rights of Employees Who Lawfully Use Medical Marijuana
The ACLU of Washington has filed an amicus memorandum urging the state Supreme Court to accept review of a case in which an employee was fired solely for her lawful, at home, medical use of marijuana....
View ArticleCourt Ruling Points to Need for Reform of Medical Marijuana Law
The Washington Supreme Court today ruled against a patient arrested for possessing marijuana despite his having a doctor’s recommendation for medicinal use of marijuana. The court found that police had...
View ArticleState Supreme Court To Review Firing of Medical Marijuana Patient
The Washington Supreme Court has agreed to review a case in which an employee was fired solely for her lawful use at home of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The ACLU of Washington had filed an amicus...
View ArticleA Guide to Washington's Medical Marijuana Law
Washington voters passed the Medical Use of Marijuana Act in 1998 as a ballot initiative (I-692), and the Washington Legislature amended the Act in 2007 with SB 6032, in 2010 with SB 5798, and in 2011...
View ArticleWashington's Medical Marijuana Law Expanded to Help Patients
Last Thursday, a new law that improves qualifying patients' access to medical marijuana went into effect. Sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-36), SB 5798 expands the list of health care...
View ArticleLiberty Links
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Under Fire: As the case of ACLU-WA client Major Margaret Witt moves toward trial on Sept. 13, two of our state’s major dailies weigh in against the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t...
View ArticleMedical Marijuana Law Ripe for Action by the Legislature
Yesterday, the Tacoma City Council agreed to delay taking action on cease-and-desist letters sent to eight medical marijuana dispensaries until after the upcoming 2011 state legislative session. The...
View ArticleInvestigation of Medical Marijuana Patient Conducted with Guns and Battering Ram
Last Monday, just before 9 o'clock at night, a half dozen Seattle police officers in black tactical gear, with guns drawn, broke down the front door of an apartment with a battering ram and put the man...
View ArticleState Supreme Court to Hear Appeal of Firing of Medical Marijuana Patient
The ACLU of Washington has filed a friend-of-the-court brief saying that the firing of an employee for using marijuana at home for medicinal purposes was wrongful. The ACLU brief urges that the rights...
View ArticleImproving Our Marijuana Laws Would Help Lawmakers Save Vital Public Services
As the 2011 state legislative session kicks off today, budget-sensitive lawmakers will be presented with two opportunities to make our state marijuana laws work better for Washingtonians and to...
View ArticleRegulating Medical Marijuana
Body: Sponsors: Sen. Kohl-Welles, Sen. Regala, Rep. MoellerCurrently, Washington’s Medical Use of Marijuana Act – adopted by voter initiative in 1998 – provides only a legal defense at trial for...
View ArticleState Supreme Court Hears Appeal of Fired Medical Cannabis Patient
Last week, the Washington Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Roe v. TeleTech. Roe was fired from her job as a customer service representative solely for her lawful medical use of...
View ArticleOly Update: Regulate & Tax Marijuana Bill Gets a Hearing; Sen. Committee to...
HB 1550: Regulate and Tax Marijuana Bill Gets a HearingTomorrow, the House Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee will hear testimony on HB 1550. The hearing will occur at 10:00am in...
View ArticleRoe v. TeleTech
Body: The ACLU of Washington has filed a friend-of-the-court brief saying that the firing of an employee for using marijuana at home for medicinal purposes was wrongful. The ACLU brief urges that the...
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Tell Olympia: Patients Deserve Safe Access to Medical Marijuana
Washington patients suffering from diseases like cancer, HIV, and MS do not have safe access to medical marijuana. We should not force seriously ill people and their families to turn to the black...
View ArticleState v. Tracy
Body: The Washington Supreme Court rejected a seriously ill woman’s plea to use medical marijuana to alleviate chronic pain, even though she had a doctor’s written recommendation. A trial court did not...
View ArticleACLU Supports Medical Marijuana Patient’s Right to a Fair Trial
The ACLU of Washington has filed a brief in support of a medical marijuana patient convicted of possession and cultivation of marijuana, even though she had a written medical recommendation to use it...
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We're winning! But medical marijuana patients need more help.
Thanks to over 800 emails from ACLU supporters like you, the medical marijuana bill has passed the Washington Senate, and is now in the House. We still need your help to keep the bill moving....
View ArticleOlympia, Stop the Raids on Sick People
Let’s be clear: Senate Bill 5073, the medical marijuana legislation moving through the state legislature, isn’t perfect. Different stakeholders with different motivations have made a lot of changes to...
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Washington can't wait. Tell Gov. Gregoire to sign the medical marijuana bill.
Thanks to over 1600 emails from ACLU supporters like you, the medical marijuana bill has passed both houses of the Washington state legislature. After the final bill goes to the governor, it can become...
View ArticleSafe Access to Medical Marijuana: Federal Raids and a Governor's Veto Won't...
Today, two troubling news stories on medical marijuana are in the headlines in Washington. The first is the federal government's raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in Spokane. The second is...
View ArticleState Supreme Court Rules Medical Marijuana Law Does Not Protect Employees...
The Washington Supreme Court today ruled against an authorized patient who was fired for using medical marijuana, even though there was no evidence that its use interfered with her job performance. In...
View ArticleSo what does the medical marijuana law say now? Let us explain ...
Significant changes to Washington's Medical Use of Cannabis Act went into effect on Friday, July 22, 2011, as a result of the implementation of SB 5073. Sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-36), SB...
View ArticleA Medical Marijuana Registry Should Protect Patient Privacy
Washington remains the only medical marijuana state not to have a patient registry. Washington’s medical marijuana law also fails to provide patients any protection from arrest.Law enforcement...
View ArticleState v. Kurtz
Body: The ACLU filed a friend of the court brief arguing that a common law medical necessity defense for medical marijuana use still exists in Washington, despite the fact that we also have a separate...
View ArticleACLU of Washington Applauds Supreme Court Decision Upholding Rights of...
Olympia, WAThe ACLU of Washington hailed a decision by the Washington Supreme Court today recognizing the right of medical marijuana patients to raise a medical necessity defense in court. The ACLU-WA...
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