Prosecutor to medical marijuana shops: Shut down or get taken to court



SEATTLE -- King County prosecutor Dan Satterberg said medical pot shops have been selling marijuana illegally for years and that will end soon after he serves lawsuits to 15 collectives in unincorporated parts of the county in the coming days.

For years, the NW Cannabis Collective catered to its clients seeking medicine for pain and other conditions.

NW Cannabis CEO Michael Keysor said, "Most of these patients have been given up on by doctors. They have no answers for them."

This month, he received a letter from authorities telling him to shut down or be sued. He says a forced closure will kill his business for good.

"We don’t sell recreationally,"  he said. "We don’t sell illegally. As a matter of fact, this market is one of the most difficult places in Seattle to get access to."

Satterberg argued that, without a state-issued license, these businesses are breaking the law.

"Their days as marijuana sellers where they never had a license, and they never paid taxes, those days are over," he said.

Satterberg said lawsuits will be served in the coming days. He will allow these businesses to close their doors in a couple months. Any businesses that do not comply will be taken to court.

Satterberg said he will then urge a judge to force them to close.