cannabisnews.com: Clearing The Smoke





Clearing The Smoke
Posted by CN Staff on October 13, 2004 at 15:48:53 PT
By Christian Bringhurst
Source: News-Review
Measure 33 supporters argue that the initiative is necessary to provide the state's medical marijuana patients with an adequate supply of the drug to treat their ailments.Law enforcement groups and others opposed to the measure argue that medicine has nothing to do with it, that the law is only the next step in the drive to legalize marijuana in Oregon.
"Many of the most visible advocates for Oregon's medical marijuana program were extensively involved in the legalization movement years before the medical marijuana concept was hatched," says Douglas County Sheriff Chris Brown. "The first thing people need to recognize is that this is not a medical issue."Riddle resident John Sajo, chief petitioner and main author of the measure, makes no secret of his past involvement in the drive to legalize marijuana. However, medical marijuana is a different matter, he says."This is really an issue of getting high quality medicine to patients rather than forcing them" to grow their own, Sajo says. "Are we doing this because it's legalization in disguise? No."However, he adds, "I hope we get a chance to revisit the legalization" issue in the future.Sajo said the authors of the 1998 medical marijuana measure did not address the issue of how patients would get their medical marijuana because it was seen as too politically risky at the time. He believes the current law enjoys widespread public support, so the time is right to provide a means for patients to get their medical marijuana when they need it.Law enforcement officials are not the only ones up in arms over the proposed revision to the law. Stormy Ray, a medical marijuana user and chief petitioner for the 1998 measure who now runs a foundation in Salem, also opposes Measure 33."Today's illegal black market would become tomorrow's dispensaries," Ray writes in her Argument in Opposition published in the state voters guide. "How dare Measure 33 put personal agendas ahead of the welfare of Oregon's patients (and) endanger our program."Indeed, some fear that the federal government would clamp down on medical marijuana laws in Oregon, California and other states if measures such as this were to pass.Sajo puts little stock in such talk, however, citing a favorable ruling recently from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals over a Justice Department challenge to California's medical marijuana law.The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in the case during its current term."We anticipate a legal conflict with the federal government similar to what we've had with the death with dignity (Oregon's assisted suicide) law and similar to what we've had in other areas," Sajo says. "We are confident, however, that the initiative will hold up ... we don't expect any rights that patients have won to be taken away."California's network of medical marijuana dispensaries is a good example of how such a system could work in Oregon, Sajo says. The difference would be that Oregon's dispensaries would be state regulated, whereas dispensaries in California are monitored at the local level.Brown and other critics have a different perspective -- they see it as legalized drug trafficking."What mental picture do you have when you read 'state dispensaries?'" Brown asks. "The fact is, anyone can be a dispensary ... dispensaries will pop up in residential neighborhoods all across the state; beside schools, beside churches, beside you."Brown worries that marijuana will proliferate in Douglas County, which already has the second-highest number of medical marijuana cardholders in the state, trailing only populous Multnomah County."Marijuana use among (people) ages 18 to 25 rose 30 percent in Oregon from 1999 to 2001," Brown says. "Nationally, the increase was 3 percent."Attacking the practice of using marijuana for pain management, Brown says this legitimization of the drug has caused it to surge again in popularity among teens and young adults. Meanwhile, a law that purportedly represented the needs of the terminally ill and severely disabled has provided cover for thousands of marijuana users complaining of ailments far less debilitating, Brown says."Originally, the advocates suggested that this was largely an end-of-life option. In other words, people who were terminally ill could benefit from smoking marijuana because the harmful consequences were irrelevant and it may ease their pain," Brown says. "Of the roughly 11,000 cards issued as of July 1, 2004, 8,711 were issued to people reporting 'pain.' Only a fraction have been issued to people with any sort of condition that could be construed as end-of-life."One medical marijuana user and primary caregiver who takes issue with positions such as Brown's is South County resident Don Coon, who defends the law and its medical efficacy."Whether it's a bad foot or a broken shoulder, who are we to question somebody who's in pain?" asks Coon, who uses marijuana to treat chronic back pain and arthritis.Coon found marijuana to be a much more palatable way to manage his pain than the cocktail of narcotics once prescribed to him by his physician. So have his wife and children."When he was on pain pills he was a couch potato ... and when he came down off the medication he was irritable and grouchy," says his wife, who asked not to be identified. "My kids vowed that they would leave home if he ever went back on pills."Coon said his liver failed twice from all of the prescription drugs he was taking.A self-professed "green thumb," Coon says few people know how to grow marijuana as fruitfully as he has learned to do. Then, when their crop fails to produce as much marijuana as they need to get through the year, they are forced to go without."My body is shutting down, and I don't know how many years I can keep the pace helping people up because I can't even help myself anymore," Coon says. "I need to have a place where I can go get my medicine."Over the years he has been growing marijuana, Coon estimates he has helped treat the pain of hundreds of people like himself."I'm not standing before you talking about legalization - but then again, where would the problem be?" Coon asks. "It is a natural, organic herb."How The Law Would Change:The main changes in medical marijuana laws that would take place if Measure 33 passes include:• State-regulated dispensaries could sell the drug. To run a dispensary, an adult must pay $1,000 and submit a petition of at least 25 medical marijuana cardholders who support the creation of the dispensary. The dispensary will operate as a nonprofit entity.• A dispensary cannot distribute more than 6 pounds of the drug to any one patient per year. Confidential records would be kept of each cardholder’s purchases to ensure he or she doesn’t visit more than one dispensary to get more marijuana than allowed by law.• Dispensaries must provide free medical marijuana to indigent patients equal to at least 20 percent of the dispensary’s gross monthly revenue.• If no private dispensaries are operating in a county within six months of the measure’s passage, the county itself would be required to act as a dispensary.• Medical marijuana providers could sell the drug at a price agreed upon by buyer and seller. Providers could serve up to 10 patients without registering as a dispensary.• The amount of marijuana a registered cardholder may possess would increase from 3 ounces of harvested marijuana, three mature plants and four immature plants, to 1 pound of harvested marijuana and 10 plants. Cardholders who can prove they derive their entire year’s supply from one outdoor harvest could possess up to 6 pounds of harvested marijuana right after the harvest.• The status of being a medical marijuana patient shall not, in and of itself, constitute cause for dismissal or denial of employment.• Nurse practitioners and naturopaths would be allowed to prescribe medical marijuana in addition to the physicians and osteopaths already authorized to do so.For more information see the Voters’ Pamphlet.Note: Medical marijuana issue: Debate grows over issue of patient supply versus drive to legalize the drug.Source: News-Review, The (OR)Author: Christian BringhurstPublished: October 13, 2004Copyright: 2004 The News-ReviewContact: bsmith newsreview.infoWebsite: http://www.newsreview.infoRelated Articles & Web Site:Voter Power Foundation http://www.voterpower.org/Measure 33 Would Improve Marijuana Lawhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19632.shtmlEase Up on Marijuana, Tighten Up on Meth http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19625.shtmlYes on 33: MMJ from a Patients Perspectivehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19427.shtmlOregon To Vote on Easing Medical Marijuana Use http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19124.shtml 
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Comment #7 posted by afterburner on October 15, 2004 at 09:40:04 PT
re/ comment #5: Nol Van Shaik is free 
HurrahHallelujahThe Lord is smiling.
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on October 14, 2004 at 17:21:36 PT
Related Article from Bend.com
County Urges 'No' Vote on Medical-Pot Expansion DA, commissioners cite problems with Measure 33
 By Barney Lerten, Bend.comWednesday, October 13, 2004 Deschutes County commissioners took a unanimous stand Wednesday, urging voters to reject Measure 33 on the Nov. 2 ballot, which would expand Oregon’s medical marijuana program and require counties to dispense up to six pounds of pot a year, to the indigent or to all cardholders, if licensed dispensaries aren’t in place.District Attorney Mike Dugan had requested that the board oppose the measure, pointing out that the county Health Department also would have to provide the medicinal pot for free to indigent, at a cost that hasn’t been determined. Registered patients could possess up to 10 mature plants, any number of seeds, and a pound of usable marijuana – six pounds, if the patient grows only one crop a year.The DA told commissioners calculations show that much pot for one person would provide “one joint per hour, 24 hours a day, for a year.”“How would you sleep?” Commissioner Dennis Luke asked.“Very restfully,” colleague Tom DeWolf joshed.“I don’t know how they’d sleep,” Dugan said. “I don’t know how they’d move.” Commissioner Mike Daly asked if the county would have to grow pot, to provide it to indigent residents. DeWolf said they could get it “from the sheriff’s office, after they confiscate it.”“I don’t think there’s any question, we don’t want to go into the marijuana-growing business and the marijuana-distribution business in this county,” DeWolf added.“I’m glad you said that, Mister Commissioner,” Dugan replied.Luke asked about the issue of county jail inmates. The DA said the initiative doesn’t spell it out, but it seems likely that if a medical marijuana cardholder was arrested and jailed, “we would have to provide medication” for the inmate.DeWolf asked about recent polling on the issue, and Luke said he heard it was trailing in statewide surveys.Dugan said that if the measure passed, “there would be no way for the county to control the spread of marijuana,” and that the county would have to dispense pot, if a non-profit wasn’t established to do so within six months of enactment. Luke pointed to the problem of each county enacting its own rules, rather than a statewide program with uniform standards.Luke pointed out that some people indeed receive relief from painful medical conditions with marijuana, and Dugan said he’s not denying the medicinal impact, but noted that a drug has been developed that can mimic pot’s active ingredient, THC.Luke asked what the street value is for six pounds of marijuana, and Dugan quickly figured it at roughly $3,840 a pound. But he also noted that, since the ‘60s and ‘70s, the potency of pot has greatly increased, from 2 percent THC to as much as 30 percent.Copyright: 2000-2004 Bend.com LLChttp://www.bend.com/news/ar_view%5E3Far_id%5E3D18674.htm#no-hash
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Comment #5 posted by E_Johnson on October 13, 2004 at 19:24:11 PT
Nol Van Shaik is free
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4021.html
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Comment #4 posted by observer on October 13, 2004 at 17:39:56 PT
What Sheriff Brown said ...
[1]
Law enforcement groups and others opposed to the measure argue that medicine has nothing to do with it, that the law is only the next step in the drive to legalize marijuana in Oregon.
(Sentence 1) re: "legalize" - Drug policy options are presented as either total prohibition, or as total "legalization." No middle ground is contemplated in the "zero-tolerance" world of prohibition. Absolute prohibition executed with religious fervor and purpose! (Total Prohibition or Access (propaganda theme 7) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme7.htm ) 
 
 
[2]
"Many of the most visible advocates for Oregon's medical marijuana program were extensively involved in the legalization movement years before the medical marijuana concept was hatched," says Douglas County Sheriff Chris Brown.
(Sentence 2) re: "legalization" - Onward prohibitionist drug warriors, fighting the epidemic and scourge in the battles of the war against drugs! (Drugs declared evil by politicians, that is.) (Total Prohibition or Access (propaganda theme 7) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme7.htm ) 
 
 
[8]
"Marijuana use among (people) ages 18 to 25 rose 30 percent in Oregon from 1999 to 2001," Brown says.
(Sentence 8) re: "Marijuana use" - The rhetoric of prohibition will assume that "use" and "abuse" are identical. (Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme4.htm#alluseisabuse ) 
 
 
[10]
Attacking the practice of using marijuana for pain management, Brown says this legitimization of the drug has caused it to surge again in popularity among teens and young adults.
(Sentence 10) re: "teens" - Prohibitionist propaganda continually whips up parental fear, invoking lurid images of children corrupted by drugs. (Children Corrupted (propaganda theme 5) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme5.htm ) 
 
 
[11]
Meanwhile, a law that purportedly represented the needs of the terminally ill and severely disabled has provided cover for thousands of marijuana users complaining of ailments far less debilitating, Brown says.
(Sentence 11) re: "marijuana users" - Prohibitionist propagandists repeatedly assert that "use is abuse." Details about "using" as opposed to "abusing" drugs are ignored. (Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme4.htm#alluseisabuse ) 
 
 asserted: $drugwar_propaganda at 100% ($propaganda_theme5 $propaganda_theme7 $propaganda_theme4)
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Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on October 13, 2004 at 17:13:00 PT:
Sheriff Brown , meet Montel Williams
Boy, would I like to see people like Sheriff Brown go head to head with Mr. Williams; Montel did an excellent job of shutting "Dr." Barthwell's 'propaganda pit' for her.LEOs and other antis perpetually sound like the proverbial scratched CD, they keep repeating the same tired old lies that were challenged so successfully on Mr. William's program. The same conflations, the same non-sequiters, over and over and over again. But face off with someone who knows their facts and can give the names of peer-reviewed papers as opposed to nebulous, anonymous 'studies' and they wilt every time.The first public showdown has already taken place, courtesy of Montel Williams. The lies were laid bare, and the antis silenced. Time for Round Two.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on October 13, 2004 at 16:36:15 PT
Sam
God, it sounds too good to be true!I'll second that!
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on October 13, 2004 at 16:31:40 PT
WHY do they bother quoting LEO again and again?
Great to see the cops weigh in on this medical issue again. They're so much better equipped to make the decision, much more than those silly egghead pharmacists with the PHD's and doctors with their 8 years of schooling and whatnot.Listen to this little porker:"What mental picture do you have when you read 'state dispensaries?'" Brown asks. "The fact is, anyone can be a dispensary ... dispensaries will pop up in residential neighborhoods all across the state; beside schools, beside churches, beside you."God, it sounds too good to be true!
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