[420 Girl]

Washington - A medical marijuana advocate pressed Richland leaders this week to support collective cannabis growing.

Chet Biggerstaff of the Three Rivers Collective brought his message to the city council after discussing the issue with the city for about the past nine months.

He has expressed the goal of setting up a group growing operation and a storefront dispensary in Richland to improve access for hundreds of medical marijuana patients in the Tri-Cities.

He said Tuesday that medical marijuana users don't have good options for getting the product. If they grow it themselves, they become targets for law enforcement. If they buy it, it's expensive, or they have to leave town to get it.

"How many of you have to drive to Seattle or Portland to get your medicines?" Biggerstaff asked the council. "I doubt any of you, but we do. We're discriminated against constantly."

Washington law allows residents who suffer from a terminal or debilitating illness and have a written recommendation from their doctor to legally possess a 60-day supply of marijuana. But the law is ambiguous about how they're supposed to get it.

Biggerstaff has said the keys to having a successful collective include transparency, public education and city support -- which hasn't come thus far, he said.

He told the council he wants to work with the city to develop a template for a nonprofit collective and future facilities that would follow a set of rules and help reduce the cost of buying marijuana.

"The prices of cannabis right now are ridiculous," he said.

His proposals have been met with resistance, he said. Authorities have told him a collective can't grow or share marijuana because it's not specifically permitted by state law.

"The last time I checked, if something's not specifically allowed or disallowed, it's legal until it's made illegal," he said. "So I have a real problem being told that by certain people."

City Attorney Tom Lampson told Mayor John Fox that the state attorney general hasn't provided an interpretation on the subject. But he said his department has recommended to Biggerstaff that his group ask the Legislature to revise the law to authorize what he wants.

"We went through our impression of what the state statutes provide," Lampson said. "They are contrary to what Mr. Biggerstaff believes."

Fox said the city should proceed with caution.

"Absent an AG opinion or legislation, I doubt we can proceed, but that can be discussed further," Fox said.

Biggerstaff's Three Rivers Collective group holds open meetings at 2 p.m. on the first and third Saturday of the month at the Richland Community Center.

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