Justin Prince, owner of Tacoma’s first medical marijuana dispensary and a founder of Tacoma Hempfest, was released on bail Friday after pleading not guilty to charges of growing and selling marijuana.
Tacoma police arrested Prince on Thursday after several months of monitoring his business, the Tacoma Hemp Co., located near South Fourth Street and Tacoma Avenue South.
According to charging papers, Prince’s employees sold marijuana to people who did not have valid authorization for medical marijuana, as state law requires.
Pierce County prosecutors also charged that Prince had 40 marijuana plants in his home and “a few” growing in his backyard.
Washington’s medical marijuana law says that a qualified patient or the patient’s “designated provider” may possess no more than 15 marijuana plants.
Prince, 38, was charged with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, and unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance.
Prince’s bail, set at $2,500, was paid by the marijuana advocacy group Sensible Washington. It sponsored Initiative 1068, which would have legalized marijuana use, possession and cultivation in the state. The measure failed to collect enough signatures to make the ballot.
Sensible Washington field director Don Skakie, who arranged Prince’s bail, characterized Prince as a martyr for the cause to legalize cannabis.
“The movement to end penalties is mainstream,” Skakie said, “and people like Justin, who put themselves out there as leaders of the movement, end up making themselves targets.”
Also charged as a result of the investigation were two Tacoma Hemp Co. employees, Erica Lorenza King, 30, and Domisi Thrash, 37. King pleaded not guilty to two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance; Thrash pleaded not guilty to one count of unlawful delivery.
King’s bail was set at $2,500, Thrash’s at $10,000.
According to charging papers, undercover officers gained access to the Tacoma Hemp Co. dispensary four times, using phony medical marijuana approval forms and posing as patients.
Rob Carson: 253-597-8693 rob.carson@thenewstribune.com
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