Washington Prosecutor Drops Dispensary Cases

Last week, Cowlitz County prosecutor Sue Baur dropped two Washington medical marijuana dispensary cases.

Naturally Yours and Grass Rootz owners and employees charged in the cases are relieved, but say the situation never should have come this far. One of the accused drug dealers, Kellie Opsal, said, “I don’t know why they wasted a bunch of taxpayers’ money on dragging it along this long.”

Both dispensaries were raided after the passage of I-502, an event that wasn’t just historic but made the already grey area of the prosecution of dispensaries more difficult. Sue Baur explains:

The people of our state clearly stated that marijuana use and possession should be decriminalized. Marijuana prosecutions (even dispensaries) became problematic given this decision by the voters.

Even if the defendants had been convicted, they would have most likely been sentenced to no more than a few months in jail. Given my office’s priorities, it did not make sense for me to pursue these cases any further. Marijuana prosecutions are not the highest priority for my office.

These dismissals are an important reminder of the overall progress of cannabis reform during this rough time for Washington patients. Hopefully there will be no more raids of legally-operating dispensaries in the state.