Feds Prosecute Medical Marijuana Users in Washington City Where Cannabusinesses Openly Operate

Jacob Sullum, Reason.com

Two months ago, the Washington State Liquor Control Board gave Sean Green, CEO of Kouchlock Productions, a license to grow up to 21,000 square feet of marijuana for the state's newly legal recreational market. Green, who already owns two medical marijuana dispensaries in Spokane, is growing those plants in a building about six miles from the office of Michael Ormsby, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. Green does not seem worried, and Ormsby has shown no interest in shutting him down. Yet next week at the federal courthouse in Spokane, Ormsby's office will go to trial in a case involving a much smaller cannabis garden, seeking to put five medical marijuana users behind bars for terms ranging from 10 years to life.