​A cannabis activist group has filed suit against the Washington State Medical Quality Assurance Commission, claiming the state agency overstepped its authority and violated the law in its handling of two recent medical cannabis petitions.

Under Washington state law, citizens may petition to add an ailment to the list of conditions for which health care professionals may recommend medical cannabis.

The Cannabis Defense Coalition, a grassroots activist group, petitioned to add neuropathic pain to the law, supported by three recent clinical trials of cannabis in the treatment of neuropathic pain. The Commission rejected the petition, stating “neuropathic pain is not a discretely defined condition,” and that they could not find it in two online medical dictionaries — a result that happens when searching for many conditions already covered by the state’s medical cannabis law, like “seizure disorder.”