Everett horticulturalist Steve Sarich suprised everyone Tuesday by showing up at a Senate hearing with a small cardboard box that I think said "raspberries" on the side.

Raspberries they were not.

Sarich, there for a hearing on a bill (SB 6032) to toughen the legal protections for medical marijuana users, noted that drug agents had raided his home last month, seizing 1,000 marijuana plants. He's head of "CannaCare," which provides marijuana plants to medical marijuana users. He grows the plants in his home.

So it shouldn't have been a surprise -- but was -- when Sarich reached into the little box and, voila, unveiled half a dozen marijuana seedlings in front of the Senate committee.

"That's six marijuana plants," he said, plopping what looked like a bunch of tomato seedlings down on the hearing table.

There was a startled pause, after which committee chairwoman Sen. Karen Keiser said "OK, Steve, thank you for bringing that forward."

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