In one of the more popular episodes of The Simpsons, Homer makes friends with a flock of crows that ends up attacking his face and sending him to the hospital. Upon seeing the injury, Dr. Hibbert prescribes medical marijuana. The spirit of the episode is best captured when Hibbert asks Homer which pipe he would prefer, “the wizard or the skull.”

The topic of medical marijuana in the legal arena is not quite so lighthearted. Marijuana is legalized to some degree in 11 states, Washington included, but it isn’t as simple as that. As The Seattle Times reports, Washington’s voters legalized medical marijuana with the passing of the Medical Marijuana Act in 1998, but the nature of the law has remained shrouded in ambiguity ever since.

Most notably, the legislation has not been recognized by federal courts, and so whether or not medical marijuana is actually legal remains uncertain. It depends on who’s doing the investigation, and whether the investigators are more concerned with state or federal laws.

It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that considerable controversy has surrounded a recent raid on the Everett home of known- grower Steve Sarich who heads up CannaCare, a group which claims to have provided medical marijuana to some 1,200 afflicted patients in Washington.

There’s no doubt that Sarich was a prolific grower of pot; police seized 1,500 plants from his home. The question is, was his growing operation illegal?

Even by state standards, the answer is probably “Yes, it was.” The law permits patients with certain conditions to possess up to a 60-day supply of pot, and, although, according to the Times, Sarich — a sufferer of spinal pain — was an authorized user, he will have a tough time convincing anybody that 1,500 plants constituted a 60-day personal supply.

It will be further difficult to argue that he was legally growing the plants for other patients, despite whatever reputability his organization may have had. Simply, the state does not issue licenses to grow and distribute pot.

Whether the arguments are for or against the issue, Sarich’s fate will be decided by the courts.

This begs the question — a question far more important than that of the legality of Sarich’s growing operation: How can this case draw such tremendous legal and media attention when far more serious drug-related problems continue to persist?

That is, how do drug-enforcement agencies justify the attention they give to issues like medical marijuana over other drug issues like Washington’s rampant meth problem?

Theft is notoriously associated with hard-drug addicts. The desperation associated with addiction to meth and similar drugs is one of the worst catalysts for crime that exists.

The problems of meth production and use are being addressed, certainly, but how thoroughly? What kinds of resources have been diverted from local meth enforcement to fund operations like the raid on Sarich’s home?

Assuredly, more could be done to curb our region’s serious drug problems, probably at the expense of little more than comparably inconsequential enforcement of issues like medical marijuana.

At the end of Homer Simpson’s medical marijuana odyssey, having recovered from the crow attack, he gives up the drug at the persuasion of Marge and the kids and returns to normal. Simpsons writers might have tried the version where Homer gets addicted to meth, but they probably would have canned it once he started stealing copper wire from construction sites and losing teeth.

The laws concerning medical marijuana in our state and at the federal level should be clarified, no question. But this matter should in no way be allowed to detract from enforcement that really matters.

Reach columnist Andrew Brown at opinion@thedaily.washington.edu.