Just as medical marijuana commerce was beginning to flourish openly in Tacoma, a Washington State Supreme Court decision sent many patients running for cover.

"People are scared," said Mike Allison, a principal behind North End Club 420, one of three new Tacoma exchanges for medical marijuana patients. "And that's too bad because they're sick and they need this medicine."

The stack of the marijuana-growing equipment at Club 420 headquarters appears to bear out his impression. Lights, fans and carbon-exhaust filters are piled in cardboard boxes on the carpet in a rear office – all of it, club members say, donated or sold at low cost to the exchange by patients worried about getting busted.

The whole idea that police can get the faintest whiff of cannabis coming out of your house and come in with guns drawn has freaked people out," Allison said. "People are calling us, saying, 'Come and get this stuff out of here. I don't want to take the risk!'"

In the Washington v. Fry court decision, released Jan. 21, the Supreme Court knocked at least a couple of bricks out of the legal foundation relied on by those who use marijuana as medicine. Standing on your porch and waving a note from your doctor doesn't necessarily mean the cops can't search your home and arrest you, the court said. And if your medical authorization is flawed in some way, the court continued, you might not be able to use the medical marijuana law as a defense at trial.

The court's interpretation of the law only makes sense, say those in law enforcement who must distinguish legitimate medical marijuana patients from dealers and recreational users. Without a search, how can officers tell whether a person is growing more than the maximum allowed by law? If a physician's authorization for medical use doesn't meet the standards of the law, why should it constitute a defense in front of a jury?

(WE: HOWEVER! PLEASE PANIC NOT!!!)

Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist said he doesn't think the impact of the Fry case will be as great as medical marijuana users fear. "Our philosophy remains unchanged," Lindquist said. "We're not interested in prosecuting legitimate medical marijuana users. But we are going to prosecute bogus medical marijuana users."

"We're going to continue to look at it on a case-by-case basis," he said. "We're not in the business of prosecuting legitimate medical marijuana users, but we don't want to see the medical marijuana statute abused to cover drug dealers." Clouded history Washington's medical marijuana law, which voters approved in a 1998 initiative, was never clear to begin with.

The law made it OK for people with certain "debilitating or terminal illnesses" to have a limited amount of marijuana for medical use, but left it unclear how they were supposed to get it. Buying and selling marijuana stayed illegal. Authorized patients are allowed to tend their own marijuana plants, but there is no legal source for seeds or seedlings.

Also, the state law conflicts with federal law. The federal government doesn't recognize the medical use of marijuana. Attorney General Eric Holder announced last year that the Justice Department will not raid medical marijuana exchanges that are legal under state law. But all marijuana possession remains illegal under federal law.

As a result, local law enforcement agencies and medical marijuana users are engaged in a careful dance, with users grasping at admittedly flimsy interpretations of the state law to justify commerce in the drug and, in most jurisdictions, cops and prosecutors pretending not to notice.

"The reality is, we have bigger problems in Pierce County that we're focusing on," Lindquist said. "Marijuana is extremely low on our radar screen."

In 2009, Lindquist said, his office filed charges in about 1,600 drug cases, most involving methamphetamine. Only 79 were marijuana-grow operations, he said, 'Patient exchanges'. Public evidence of Tacoma's clandestine medical marijuana trade has been growing steadily. In the past two months, three marijuana exchanges opened outlets in various parts of the city.

On a quiet alley near Wright Park, the Tacoma Hemp Co. operates a brisk patient exchange out of an unmarked building fronted with a steel gate and a buzzer. Push the buzzer, and an attendant emerges and asks for medical authorization and identification. Once inside, patients sign a form appointing Tacoma Hemp as "my agent for the sole purpose of procuring substances which I may order for personal medical use."

North End Club 420 went online with an elaborate Web site on Dec. 1 and two weeks ago rented office space near the 38th Street bridge over Interstate 5 to use not only as a marijuana exchange but also as a social center and space for classes on marijuana law and cannabis cultivation. Downtown, on Commerce Street, Tacoma Cross opened an outlet last month, with one-way black glass fronting the street and green crosses on interior doors.

The group canceled an interview with a News Tribune reporter two days after the Supreme Court decision was announced. "Our lawyers told us this is not a good time," said one of the organizers, who asked not to be identified. In addition, dozens of local providers advertise on the Internet, including several who offer free delivery.

The organizers of the three biggest groups, (!)most of whom prefer to remain anonymous, don't like the word "dispensary." They don't like "co-op" either, because both are forbidden in state guidelines. "Call it a 'patient exchange,' " said Morocco Kyashna-Tocha, who runs the Green Buddha Patient Network, a statewide service based in Seattle. Kyashna-Tocha said Green Buddha has more than 1,000 medical marijuana clients and says she typically gets about 150 calls a day from prospective patients.

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