Seattle’s mayor and city attorney and King County’s executive and prosecutor sent a letter to legislative leaders this week, urging them to pass a compromise version of medical marijuana legislation that is now opposed by some pot proponents.

Mayor Mike McGinn, Executive Dow Constantine, City Attorney Pete Holmes and Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said Tuesday that Gov. Chris Gregoire’s veto of a previous medical cannabis bill “leaves local governments with no clear path forward as we struggle to balance three priorities: public safety; the need of qualified patients to have safe access to medical marijuana; and law enforcement’s need for clarity.”

Last month Gov. Chris Gregoire vetoed critical parts of a medical cannabis bill, Senate Bill 5073, reiterating her concerns that state workers could be prosecuted under federal law the way the measure was written.

The legislation was passed to set clearer regulations on medical marijuana use and to establish a licensing system and patient registry to protect qualifying patients, doctors and providers from criminal liability. Gregoire vetoed provisions of the bill that would have licensed and regulated medical marijuana dispensaries and producers. She also vetoed a provision for a patient registry under the Department of Health, but said she would support legislation creating a registry as long as state workers weren’t put at risk.

That measure’s sponsor, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, has introduced new legislation, S.B. 5955 . It would allow dispensaries — called “nonprofit patient cooperatives” — only if local jurisdictions opt in by approving an ordinance. The bill would also create a statewide registry of qualified medical marijuana patients. That’s the section certain medical cannabis backers object to. Another, competing bill , is also in play which removes the registry from the equation.

McGinn, Constantine, Holmes and Satterberg asked legislative leaders to pass S.B. 5955. “Although not perfect, (the bill) provides the kind clarity we at the local level need,” they said.

Evergreen State voters approved legalizing medical marijuana in 1998. Washington is one of 15 states which allows marijuana use for medical purposes. The federal government does not recognize any medicinal use for cannabis.