With two US attorneys for Washington State - Mike Orsmby and Jenny Durkan - having delivered a threat earlier this month to prosecute state employees who carry out the all or part of the medical-marijuana bill, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has vetoed some key portions of the landmark law.

The legislation in question - Senate Bill 5073 – aims at creating a system of state-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries, patient registries as well as cooperative growing gardens.

Noting that she does not wish to put state employees at risk of federal criminal charges, Gregoire has stated publicly that she will not be signing the bill. She has further added that the matter will be discussed at a news conference on Friday.

With a union that represents thousands of state employees having urged Gregoire to veto the bill, the governor said: “I cannot disregard federal law and our two U. S. attorneys on the chance that state employees may never be prosecuted. What do you say to them if they are? What would you tell that employee?”

The threat by the federal prosecutors has prompted concerns about federal interference in state policymaking, despite the fact that legislators, law professors and marijuana activists have termed the threat as hollow, and, apparently even constitutionally illegal.

Nonetheless, in their April 14-dated letter to the governor, Orsmby and Durkan had said: “Growing, distributing and possessing marijuana in any capacity, other than as part of a federally authorized research program, is a violation of federal law regardless of state laws permitting such activities.”