Until now, medical cannabis patients in Washington have felt uneasy of the so-called “legal protections” that have been in place to protect them from arrest and prosecution. Well over a decade ago the voters approved the medical use of cannabis for certain conditions. Some of the first patients were arrested, charged, and prosecuted for the cultivation and use of their medicine. There was not much protection back then and patients had what is called an Affirmative Defense, which is not an exemption of the law but rather an acceptable excuse to go break the laws. This means that a patient, oftentimes very sick and in many cases terminal, would be handcuffed, put in jail and await trial before proving their innocence.