THIS WEEK IN DUMB >>>

Not sure if you've had a chance to read the embarrassingly stupid blog post offered yesterday by Patrick O'Callahan over at the Trib. Just in case you haven't, here's the gist:

Emiel Kandi - yes, the same Emiel Kandi who heads Tacoma's medical marijuana dispensary C.O.B.R.A. Medical Group, and the same Emiel Kandi the Volcano quoted in our August cover story on the medical marijuana situation in Tacoma and Pierce County - is allegedly kind of a bad guy. Or, at the very least, he's the kind of guy who gets sued for providing hard money loans to those in financial trouble, taking a bizarre amount of enjoyment from seizing their homes and property when they fail to repay him. The Seattle Times recently published an article about Kandi's loan practices, and it doesn't exactly paint a nice picture of the man.

In a leap reminiscent of that scene from Harold & Kumar with the cheetah, O'Callahan draws the conclusion that because Kandi appears to be a less-than-savory character, AND operates a medical marijuana dispensary, the two things naturally go hand in hand. This is classic logical fallacy, and the kind that journalists would do well to avoid posting on their blog - lest they be ridiculed endlessly.  Especially if they're just piggybacking on the work of a larger paper.

Here's the structure of O'Callahan's post:

Emiel Kandi = bad.

Emiel Kandi runs a medical marijuana dispensary.

Therefore medical pot dispensaries = bad.

Ironically, Kandi responded to this very accusation in an e-mail sent out last week.

"Hard money lending and medical marijuana are two separate issues, please treat them as such even if you decide you don't like me after all," he asks."I sincerely apologize to all of my colleagues in the medical marijuana reform movement for this embarrassing personal attack....I didn't break any laws, my clinic is one of the few that has not been raided because I am towing the letter of the rather vague laws as my attorneys have advised me to do."

The Trib's blog seems to take particular delight in the way the Volcano's cover story "praised" Kandi for running "the tightest ship in town," in C.O.B.R.A.  ("Praised" is his word, not ours.) Apparently the fact that a businessman with questionable ethics could also operate a medical marijuana dispensary that acts extremely thoroughly in verifying patients' documentation before SELLING them medical marijuana confuses O'Callahan. This is, at best, another logical fallacy on his part. And a pretty dumb one, if you think about it.

More importantly, however, O'Callahan calls Tacoma's City Council "panic stricken," basically berating Mayor Strickland and Co. for reversing the decision made unilaterally by a city department to shut down all of Tacoma's medical marijuana dispensaries, and allow time for the legislature to do its job because hundreds of people (including Kandi) voiced concerns. O'Callahan quotes Kandi as saying at the time, "We shall fill your chambers and spill into the streets. We shall be heard."

He's right that not everyone involved in the medical marijuana movement or operating a dispensary is doing it purely out of goodwill for the sick and dying. Just like other pharmaceuticals, many are interested in medical marijuana for the money (gasp!). The medical marijuana movement is horribly convoluted with recreational pot smokers and profiteers who see it as the gateway to full-on legalization.

But, then again, how surprised should we be by this? When you've got a poorly written (alright, horribly written) law on the books - one intended to allow the sick and dying access to medical marijuana with a doctor's permission that doesn't even attempt to answer the question of how these patients are supposed to acquire that medical pot - you've already set the stage for it. Add in the fact that roughly 80 percent of the population supports marijuana for medical use, and it only gets messier.

The truth is, as we noted in our cover story, the current medical marijuana law doesn't provide any guidance or allowances for medical pot dispensaries. By most professional interpretations of the law, dispensaries are illegal. By others, they are allowed. This presents a two-fold problem.

First, the law is so poorly written that before Tacoma could figure out its stance on medical marijuana dispensaries (which took over a fucking year) roughly eight had already popped up. Whether people like Emiel Kandi are bad news or not, or in it for profit, these dispensaries do serve the sick and dying with a medicine their doctors and Washington state voters overwhelmingly agree they should have. Tacoma's lack of action or foresight has allowed many sick and dying patients to come to depend on these dispensaries. It's all tied together now.

Second, there's the court of public opinion. When voters overwhelmingly approved the current medical marijuana law (over ten years ago!) what they thought they were doing was giving medical marijuana access to the sick and dying. While the poorly written law has allowed opportunities for the Emiel Kandis of the world to open dispensaries, that has far more to do with the flaws in the law. Honestly, no one knows exactly what to make of it. When you write half a law, and try to legalize marijuana for a tiny portion of the population without providing any clear guidelines, this is what happens.

The bottom line is if the legislature would do its job we wouldn't be in this situation. The law needs clarity as fast as possible, or those who depend on medical marijuana will continue to be victimized by it, and O'Callahan will get to continue publishing stupid shit.