The operators of a Tacoma medical marijuana dispensary beat drug charges earlier this year. The operators of a Tacoma medical marijuana dispensary beat drug charges earlier this year.

Now they want their pot back.

Guy Casey and Michael Schaef contend they are legally authorized to possess the marijuana seized during a criminal investigation and that the government no longer has any interest in the pot.

They’ve asked a Pierce County Superior Court judge to return to each of them 48 ounces of harvested marijuana and 30 plants – or their cash equivalents. Their attorneys contend each plant, likely dead now, was worth $3,000 to $3,500.

“Here, it is clear that Mr. Casey is entitled to a return of the property at issue,” his attorney, Aaron Pelley of Seattle, wrote in a pleading filed in Superior Court. “The case has been resolved, and the property is no longer needed as evidence.”

Deputy Prosecutor John Sheeran just says no. Schaef and Casey are in violation of the state’s Medical Use of Marijuana Act, Sheeran wrote in a counter pleading.

They have not proved they’re legitimate medical marijuana patients or providers, and they possessed five times more marijuana than allowed by law when they were arrested, Sheeran wrote.

“A person who takes one step outside the rules set up by the Legislature loses the protections offered by the act,” the deputy prosecutor said.

The two sides are scheduled to argue their case in court Aug. 9.

The outcome might establish precedent in Washington state, where courts have yet to rule on whether forfeiture laws apply to medical marijuana, Casey’s and Schaef’s attorneys wrote in their pleadings.