Washington's 1998 medical-marijuana law legalizes possession of a 60-day supply of the drug, but doesn't spell out exactly how much marijuana that amounts to, the Los Angeles Times reported Sept. 23.

As a result, state lawmakers are now requiring a definition of the standard dosage by July, and the state is holding hearings and gathering information from experts. "What has ended up happening is that in each county, law enforcement effectively decides what constitutes a 60-day supply, and in some counties, that amount has been set at zero," said Alison Holcomb, marijuana education project director for the Washington chapter of the ACLU. 

Every state with a medical-marijuana law on the books other than Washington has clearly defined possession limits.

"There is so much you will have to take into account," said Joanna McKee, founder of Seattle's Green Cross Patient Co-op. "What about people who eat it? How different is the amount they need from people who smoke it?"

Gregory T. Carter of the University of Washington School of Medicine estimates that a 60-day supply should be about 4-1/2 pounds per patient, which is much more than any state currently allows.