I’m in the downtown library at a Washington Department of Health workshop on new rules for medical marijuana. DoH officials must replace the ambiguous 60-day supply of pot currently allowed for authorized patients with a presumptive quantity-per-patient by 2008, as tasked by the state legislature earlier this year.

The hearing, the first of four, consists of about 60 sick people hobbling and wheeling their way up to a microphone to tell stories about how marijuana has eased their suffering. Unfortunately, most of them have failed to answer the key questions: How much dried pot and how many plants do patients need?

One man, Jeff Morgan, stepped up and proclaimed, “Most of my life, I’ve been a pot dealer and pot smuggler.” He spoke against establishing a state-run registry for patients, an option that isn’t on the table: “With a new order trying to be imposed on you, you’re going to be paying more for marijuana. As businessman, that’s good for me.” Uh, okay.

In the most theatrical display, a man named Steve Sarich, wearing a suit and tie, strutted up to the panel and said, “I came bearing gifts.” He plunked a baby tomato plant on the table and rhetorically asked how many pounds of tomatoes it would produce. “We don’t know when we start what we’re going to get off of it,” he belabored. Point taken, we don’t know how many tomatoes it would produce, but his conclusion that the DoH thusly shouldn’t make any plant limit misses the point of the workshops.

Law enforcement officers and prosecutors need a way to determine who is complying with the law and who is abusing it—that means setting plant numbers and dried weight limits. Fortunately, several cogent speakers are also on hand to make the case for adequate supplies. A man busted in Yakima with only three joints recounted an officer telling him, “There is no medical marijuana law in Washington State.”

Beyond the sad stories, the bigger issue is whether our medical marijuana law – and drug reforms in general – can be meaningfully implemented. If the DoH sets limits too restrictive, patients will exceed the cap and continue to be busted, making this process a token gesture.