In October, The Stranger broke the news that state regulators had a plan to repeal most of Washington State's voter-approved 1998 medical marijuana law, a deal that included prohibiting patients from growing plants at home. Patients voiced outrage, of course. The state liquor board, which was in on the strategy, has since taken a baby step backward, suggesting patients could grow three mature plants instead of the 15 currently allowed.

Pardon me if this sounds ungrateful, but what the hell are state regulators thinking?

Voters didn't declare a new war on medical cannabis growers when they passed Initiative 502, which legalized recreational pot. Legislators should not change cultivation rules for patients at all. Suggesting we send police and prosecutors after the sick and dying—who grow cannabis with a doctor's recommendation—is not just immoral, it is the opposite of what voters wanted. They wanted an end to prohibition and a means to undercut an illegal drug market.

Which is why all adults should be allowed to grow three pot plants at home, even if they are not medical marijuana patients.

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