cannabisnews.com: Man Says He Will Sue Over Medical Pot!





Man Says He Will Sue Over Medical Pot!
Posted by FoM on January 09, 1999 at 15:38:00 PT

Mike Assenberg is outraged that he was forbidden to smoke Marijuana in a Newport pizza parlor! Says he will sue over medical pot! 
Assenberg, disabled since 1985 when he was hit with a baseball bat, says he's just the kind of person Oregon's new medicinal marijuana law was designed to protect. He's in constant pain, he says, and marijuana makes it possible for him to cut down on the amount of painkilling prescription drugs he takes. David Mahnke, chief executive officer of Abby's Legendary Pizza, says he sympathizes with people in pain. In fact, he voted for Measure 67, which removed state criminal penalties for using medicinal marijuana. But as for smoking it in Abby's? "It's absolutely forbidden," Mahnke said. "I don't think it's a good idea for small children, sitting in a family restaurant, to be around people smoking medicinal marijuana." The Assenberg-Abby's tiff is the first public indication of confusion over the meaning of the new law. Assenberg has threatened to sue Abby's, claiming that both the state law and the Americans With Disabilities Act guarantee him the right to smoke marijuana in public to relieve his pain. In fact, Oregon's medicinal marijuana law expressly forbids smoking the drug in public places. Under the law, anyone who does so loses the law's protections against prosecution. And the Americans With Disabilities Act, a federal law, views marijuana as a dangerous and illegal drug, unprotected by the act. Lt. Edward A. Herbert of the Portland Police Bureau's Drugs and Vice Division said there doesn't seem to be a rush to abuse the medicinal marijuana law. People who are caught with small amounts of marijuana hardly ever assert a medical right to use the drug, he said. Herbert said Portland police probably come into contact with people who have marijuana in their possession "one to two dozen times a day." "Maybe a lot of these people we're encountering aren't following the issue in the papers real thoroughly," he said. The law, passed by Oregon voters in November, allows people who have certain medical conditions, including severe pain, to use marijuana to relieve their symptoms. The law exempts qualified users of medicinal marijuana from state criminal laws against possession and use of small amounts of marijuana. The threatened lawsuit arose from an incident on New Year's Eve, when Assenberg and his wife visited Abby's to have dinner. Assenberg, a Waldport resident, said he asked the manager for permission to smoke medicinal marijuana and was refused. Assenberg then called Newport police to report a violation of his rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Police officers interviewed him and did not arrest him for possession of marijuana. Jim Rivers, Newport police chief, said he's not sure of all of the details of the law. "I personally haven't read a full draft of it," he said. "I think we handled the call as responsibly and professionally as possible." Rivers, like Mahnke, said he has sympathy for people who are in so much pain that they have to take drugs. "The man said he was in grave pain," the police chief said. "I'm not interested in arresting people who say they need medicinal marijuana." The Newport Police Department's policy stands in stark contrast to that of the U.S. Department of Justice. The Justice Department, which oversees the Americans With Disabilities Act, is unequivocal in its assessment of marijuana as an illegal drug. Liz Savage, spokeswoman for the agency, said the act "makes no provision for people who take illegal drugs." And under federal law, marijuana is an illegal drug, she said. Supporters of Oregon's medicinal marijuana law also say Assenberg has no right to smoke marijuana in public under either state or federal laws. "When we wrote the law, we considered this issue," said Goeff Sugerman, spokesman for Oregonians for Medical Rights. "We wrote the law so that it very clearly states that using medicinal marijuana in public places is not allowed." Sugerman said the restaurant management "handled themselves admirably" in denying Assenberg's request. Assenberg, 38, says he's been in too much pain to hold a steady job since 1985. His hobby, he said, is helping to locate missing children through a computer bulletin board he operates. He said he has offered Mahnke a choice: Settle for $2,000, the amount needed to buy a new computer, or face being sued for $2 million. Mahnke, whose Roseburg-based company owns or operates 35 pizza restaurants, recalls the conversation: "I told him he wouldn't be getting a new computer." 
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