Police agree to return marijuana patient files

SEATTLE – The Seattle police department agreed Thursday to return files on more than 500 medical marijuana patients to the headquarters of a patient support group, two days after seizing them during a search. Prosecutors said no charges will be filed.

Douglas Hiatt, an attorney representing activist Martin Martinez, who runs the Lifevine cooperative and Cascadia NORML in the University District, said he was told he could pick up the files Thursday afternoon. Earlier, Hiatt said, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg assured him the records would not be reviewed or copied.

The search occurred Tuesday after a police bicycle officer responded to a complaint of a strong odor of marijuana in the building. No one was arrested but officers seized about 12 ounces of marijuana in addition to the patient files and a computer.

“Police gathered these items because they reasonably believed that they showed an effort to distribute marijuana in violation of state law,” Satterberg said in a written statement Thursday. “We are satisfied that the individual in question is authorized to possess marijuana for medical purposes under Washington state law, and that the amount in his possession was arguably within the ‘60-day supply’ permitted by statute.”