[420 Girl]

Federal prosecutors have dropped drug charges against a card-carrying medical marijuana patient detained and cited at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on the Hood Canal bridge in August.

Stephen Dixon, of Brinnon, was riding in a car en route to the Kingston ferry Aug. 22 when he was stopped at the checkpoint on Highway 104 just west of the bridge. He was cited by border patrol agents for misdemeanor possession of marijuana, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Western Washington.

State law allows residents to possess pot if a doctor has recommended it for certain medical conditions. Federal law — which governs the border patrol — outright bans the substance, however.

Dixon and at least four other people have had marijuana charges dismissed following checkpoint stops. That's not because of the state medical pot law, but rather because of a lack of manpower, Western Washington U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sullivan said.

"It is the position of this office that these types of small possession cases are more appropriate for state or local prosecution," U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sullivan said in a statement. "It is our longstanding policy to use limited federal resources to pursue the sophisticated criminal organizations who smuggle millions of dollars of drugs, guns and other contraband across our borders."

The border patrol's checkpoints on the Olympic Peninsula beginning in August have generated an outcry from some residents, including a Nov. 3 meeting in Chimicum that drew an estimated 400 people. Border patrol officials defended the practice at the meeting.

Border patrol spokesman Michael Bermudez said Friday his organization respected the limitations of federal prosecutors, and that in the future, they’ll seek “alternative routes” of prosecution in local courts.

Paul Richmond, a Port Townsend-based attorney representing Dixon, said his client suffers from chronic pain and uses marijuana to alleviate it. Richmond said his client was "verbally abused" by border patrol agents at the checkpoint and was made to wait in "cold wet weather."

Federal law allows checkpoints within 100 miles of any international border crossing, border patrol agents have said in recent weeks. They began conducting them following a funding boost that saw the agency's Port Angeles office grow from four agents to 24.

The checkpoints are random and unannounced, and have occurred at various points on the Olympic Peninsula. If stopped, border patrol officials said it is generally a short encounter, unless they suspect those in a vehicle are illegal aliens, terrorists or criminals. Those cars are directed to a second line for further questioning, and passengers can be possibly arrested or cited.

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