Federal and local law enforcement officers raided medical marijuana dispensaries in western Washington on Tuesday, alleging that the stores laundered money and trafficked in cannabis for recreational purposes.
Fifteen dispensaries were raided in Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Puyallup, Lacey and Rochester, and one person was arrested, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Seattle U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan said in a statement that while her office respects the state’s decision to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana, “state laws of compassion were never intended to protect brash criminal conduct that masquerades as medical treatment.”
A statement issued by Durkan’s office said that some of the dispensaries were the “subject of complaints from their surrounding communities as well as medical marijuana supporters, concerned about businesses operating outside the letter and spirit of state law.”
The Seattle U.S. Attorney’s office also said that the person arrested in the raids had violated the terms of his federally supervised release for a prior conviction.
Retail medical marijuana dispensaries are neither expressly banned nor allowed in Washington, according to a 1998 referendum approved state law allowing the cultivation of the plant for personal medicinal uses.
Stores have emerged throughout the state nonetheless, according to the Tribune.
In April, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire vetoed key parts of a bill that would have established a new regulatory framework for the state’s medical marijuana system, citing legal opinion from federal prosecutors who threatened to crackdown on dispensary owners and state regulators.
Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have passed laws allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana as a pain reliever.
