"Raid of medical marijuana patient raises questions about law, search"

Casey McNerthney (seattlepi.com):

Earlier this month, Seattle police raided a Leschi residence for a suspected illegal marijuana grow.

They didn't find one.

The case has raised questions of why police took such action when officers' evidence that there might be a grow operation there was a window fan and an odor they thought came from marijuana plants. The case also underscores the difficulties police have telling the difference between an illegal pot grow and a medical marijuana grow.

"There's no way for police to know if someone's a medical marijuana patient or not; there's no registry that exists," Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said.

But Alison Holcolmb, drug policy director of the Washington ACLU chapter, said police didn't follow their own guidelines to address whether the person was a medical marijuana user and failed to do basic investigative steps. MORE...