Last Thursday, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) suspended the medical license of Dimitrios "Dr. Jimmy" Magiasis from 4Evergreen Group, perhaps the state's most prolific medical cannabis authorization clinic. A provider lookup on the state's web site confirms the suspension.

DOH found that Magiasis diagnosed 109 of 110 patients he saw at Hempfest 2011 as having a "terminal or debilitating medical condition" that may be benefited by medical pot, in examinations averaging under 15 minutes. After investigating for nearly a year, DOH charged Magiasis with substandard care last August, and the naturopath continued to sign authorizations while fighting the charges, according to medical marijuana cooperatives I've interviewed. Co-worker Dr. Carolyn Bearss also had her license suspended in November for working in the same Hempfest booth.

As part of last week's DOH action, Magiasis agreed to pay a $5,000 fine and refrain from issuing medical cannabis authorizations for 48 months if he wants to be re-licensed.

4Evergreen Medical Cannabis Authorization
  • Ben Livingston
  • 4Evergreen Group willing to replace Magiasis cannabis authorizations with authorizations signed by other doctors

Is This a Problem for Patients?

As someone holding an authorization signed by Magiasis at 4Evergreen, I am concerned about my legal status and whether he will testify in court if any of his patients are prosecuted. Local medical cannabis attorney Douglas Hiatt tells me there is no need to be concerned, that patients with Magiasis authorizations need not worry. "If the patient has a bona fide qualifying condition, they should be fine with a good lawyer," Hiatt says. The real question, he asks, is "Does the patient have a qualifying condition?"

Aaron Pelley, an attorney who represents several medical cannabis collectives, agrees that the suspension does not, in itself, invalidate a patient authorization, but he says the bigger question is, "Do you want to call that doctor to testify for you, should you be charged?" Pelley worries that the authorizations have been "tainted," that they simply look bad if one ends up in court. "I don't know which authorizations this guy wrote are questionable. So I have to advise not to accept those signed by this doctor."

This exact situation has not been tested in a court of law. Perhaps the most similar case is the State of Washington v. Fry, in which a patient was convicted after the court ruled that his doctor provided him an invalid authorization. It wasn't Jason Fry's fault, and the whole time he was growing medical cannabis he thought his marijuana was legal. But the court disagreed and said if a medical cannabis doctor screws up—even if the patient is unaware of this—the patient can be convicted.

ACLU of Washington drug policy director Alison Holcomb says the fact that Magiasis lost his license for writing medical marijuana authorizations adds a greater measure of concern for patients and collectives accepting such paperwork. "Any authorization issued by a doctor whose license was suspended or revoked specifically due to authorization practices is highly suspect and would not be given much weight by a prosecutor or judge," she says.

Magiasis's attorney John Peick was reluctant to comment on the issue or respond to the statements made by Pelley and Holcomb, except to say, "this was a documentation issue, not that these people didn't have a qualifying condition."

Based on his 109 authorizations within three days at Seattle Hempfest 2011, it stands to reason that Magiasis signed hundreds, or even thousands of authorizations, since DOH began investigating (Berman and Peick declined to comment on the number of authorizations Magiasis signed). I spoke to multiple pot growers with Magiasis authorizations on their walls who are concerned they may now be over their legal plant limit. I spoke to a dispensary worker who was still allowing Magiasis's patients to access the medical pot shop based on 4Evergreen's online patient verification tool. "This is a huge annoyance," said the source who asked to remain anonymous.

Hiatt responds by saying every potential prosecution will be on a "case by case" basis, and the weight judges and prosecutors give to Magiasis authorizations "will depend on many factors." It really only matters that the patient has a qualifying terminal or debilitating medical condition, he says.

4Evergreen Agrees to Replace Authorizations

Last Friday, 4Evergreen e-mailed their patients an announcement about a 4/20 show featuring rapper Raekwon, along with a reminder about their new "patient lounge" in Belltown. I responded by asking if 4Evergreen has a plan to deal with patients affected by Magiasis's license suspension.

When I spoke with 4Evergreen Group owner Josh Berman, I asked him specifically whether Magiasis would take the stand if one of his patients was prosecuted. "I have no idea how that works personally," said Berman. "I do ad buys." Later in the day, Berman added by text message: "Jimmy will make himself available for needs his patients might have."

Pelley calls the situation a mess, saying, "I am hoping the clinics that used these doctors will reach out to their patients and give them new authorizations without charging them."

And that is just what 4Evergreen agreed to do last Friday in response to my questions. "If patients are uncomfortable, then they are welcome to come to any location and get reauthorized for free," Berman told me.

4Evergreen Will Direct Patients Elsewhere

On Monday, 4Evergreen emailed dispensary operators about the Magiasis license suspension. They emphatically state that the authorizations are still good because "the Agreed Order entered into by Magiasis does not include any statement invalidating his prior authorizations." Even so, patients concerned about their Magiasis authorization can come in for a free re-examination, it says.

The announcement goes on to warn dispensaries that they will be dumped from the 4Evergreen referral list if they stop accepting authorizations signed by Magiasis. "If your collective would like to discontinue servicing 4E members who have been authorized by Dr. Magiasis, please let us know and we will direct our members to other collectives who will service them."