cannabisnews.com: Ore. Subpoenas Worry Medical Marijuana Advocates Ore. Subpoenas Worry Medical Marijuana Advocates Posted by CN Staff on August 11, 2007 at 14:46:06 PT By The Associated Press Source: Associated Press Portland, Ore. -- Federal subpoenas seeking medical records of 17 Oregon medical marijuana patients have growers and users upset and nervous even as a federal judge considers whether to throw the subpoenas out."It's crazy. It's really scary. If they can get my records, they can get Gov. (Ted) Kulongoski's, they can get yours," said Donald DuPay, a former Portland police officer and 2006 candidate for Multnomah County sheriff. DuPay says his records are among those subpoenaed.A federal grand jury in Yakima, Wash., issued the subpoenas in April as part of an investigation of some growers in Oregon and Washington.The patients are not targets of the grand jury.A Seattle spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration declined comment.The subpoenas were served on the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, which issues permits to patients and their authorized growers.A second subpoena went to The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, a private Portland clinic where doctors determine whether a patient's condition would be eased by marijuana.The DEA raided DuPay's Portland home in June and seized 135 marijuana plants DuPay said he was growing for patients. DuPay, who hosts a local cable-access program on medical marijuana, says he has not been arrested.On Aug. 1, lawyers from the state and from the ACLU, representing the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, asked Chief U.S. District Judge Robert H. Whaley in Yakima to throw the subpoenas out.Hagerty acknowledged that the subpoenas were written too broadly. What the grand jury wants, he said, is not "medical records" but current addresses and phone numbers for the 17 patients.He said the grand jury is investigating "four or five" people for growing marijuana to sell under the medical marijuana law.The 17 get or got medical marijuana from the people under investigation, he said. Whaley promised to rule soon.Oregon voters enacted the state's program in 1998, and 14,868 Oregonians hold patient cards.An additional 7,115 have state permission to grow medical marijuana. They can't sell it but can accept donations to defray costs.Eleven other states have medical marijuana laws and at least two more are considering them.But federal law forbids the use or cultivation of marijuana. Federal authorities have attacked California's program by raiding marijuana dispensaries and prosecuting growers there for years.Last month, the DEA sent letters to landlords of dispensaries in Los Angeles warning of possible prison sentences.But the Oregon subpoenas apparently are the first time the DEA has come after medical records, "and of course, it is very worrisome," said Bruce Mirkin, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group in Washington, D.C."People have an expectation of medical privacy, and I think they have a right to expect medical privacy," Mirkin said."It's one thing to talk about people selling a product that is in fact not legal under federal law. We may think that's stupid. But that's in a whole different realm than obtaining peoples' medical records."The Web site for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program promises patients and caregivers that their medical records are legally protected.Kris Hermes, a spokesman for the advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, said the subpoenas suggest the DEA is looking beyond prosecuting dealers."It sends a message to the other states and their programs that they're vulnerable to federal interference," he said. "It doesn't take a brick to hit you over the head to know that the federal government is trying to undermine California's medical marijuana law, given all the raids and threats to landlords."This is one step further that shows the federal government is very serious about going after patients."Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com Source: Associated Press (Wire)Published: August 11, 2007 Copyright: 2007 Associated Press Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp,org/Hemp & Cannabis Foundationhttp://www.thc-foundation.org/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #12 posted by FoM on September 06, 2007 at 06:28:55 PT Snipped Source: Article from The Oregonian Ruling Protects Pot Patients ***Privacy - A federal judge denies a grand jury access to Oregon medical marijuana treatment records Thursday, September 06, 2007http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/118904732993670.xml&coll=7 [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by FoM on September 04, 2007 at 19:39:09 PT Related Article from The Associated Press U.S. Court Won't Allow Subpoena of Ore. Medical Marijuana RecordsSeptember 4, 2007 PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A U.S. District Court has decided the medical records of 17 Oregon medical marijuana patients do not have to be released.In May, a federal grand jury in Yakima, Wash., issued subpoenas seeking the information as part of an investigation of some growers in Oregon and Washington.The patients are not targets of the grand jury. But the issue had many patients concerned over the protection of their personal information. The state and a medical marijuana clinic moved to quash the subpoenas.A federal court judge in Washington agreed, saying the state would violate its own privacy laws if it complied.Copyright 2007 Associated Presshttp://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8REVLL00.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by FoM on August 13, 2007 at 14:52:40 PT whig If we don't learn from history we will repeat it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by whig on August 13, 2007 at 14:41:22 PT FoM I hope we learned our lesson from the 70s so that won't happen now. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by FoM on August 13, 2007 at 14:18:41 PT whig I only remember NORML from back in Carter's administration. I know that what caused the momentum to stop was Cocaine. I questioned my judgement about marijuana at that time because it might lead to cocaine and I quit caring and wrote it off in my mind as a failed dream. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by whig on August 13, 2007 at 14:11:00 PT Biko http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLg-8Jxi5aE [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by whig on August 13, 2007 at 14:05:50 PT FoM I think the original idea of NORML was to normalize cannabis, not just legalize. But I'm sure there are people here who know much better than me.I don't see why we shouldn't just do that where and when we can and if we feel comfortable doing so. Just as we here all rather openly discuss cannabis we are safer because we are righteous and we are widely spread across the country and even the world.As Peter Gabriel sang in the song Biko,You can blow out a candle / But you can't blow out a fire. / Once the flame begin to catch / The wind will blow it higher.As was true of South African apartheid, so all injustice. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on August 13, 2007 at 12:42:10 PT museman That isn't an unpopular opinion. I think like you do about it. I believe we need to change the laws then no one will wind up in jail for years and years for running ahead of the law and being so public about it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by museman on August 13, 2007 at 12:26:53 PT unpopular opinion In Oregon, each patient can grow 6 mature plants, and have 3 immature. A "provider" can 'legally' grow for patients.Too many people are exploiting the opportunity to grow, and pushing the limits.Of course I believe that one should be able to grow as many as they like, but under the draconian regime of Born-again-Rome, some prudence and wisdom must come into play.135 plants is a plantation -not to be compared to the 'commercial grows' of tens of thousands of course- but 135 plants grown in ideal conditions can easily result in 10 times the yield of plants that need to be hidden.Just like any other situation, when an opportunity arises to make money, the ones with the money are the first to jump.135 plants are not grown in Oregon just for a service to patients, somebody was going to make some bucks. These guys are ruining it for the rest of us, and some here may say that I am 'dividing the ranks' by airing this opinion, but there is a certain amount of kharma involved in growing the herb, and if you get greedy, you get got.This is exactly why, though I have been able for about 4 years to get a 'card' I have not yet done so. I have had the cops break down my door more times than many might believe (and still be free to talk about it) and I can see no reason to give them carte blanche to check my business any time they want.In the sixties, we said "Don't trust anyhone over 30." I'd like to recoin that phrase; "Don't trust anyone over $30,000 a year." If you think I should, I'd like to SEE evidence that supports it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on August 12, 2007 at 01:42:55 PT Medical-marijuana comments sought Noticed this, and thought Washington state folks might like to know.http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003832745_dige12m.htmlOlympiaHow much is a 60-day supply of medical marijuana? And how should patients who qualify under state law to legally possess the stuff actually get some?The public is invited to help the state Department of Health come up with those and other answers to clarify the medical-marijuana law passed by voters in 1998. The state Legislature last session ordered the department to make the clarifications.Written comments may be submitted by mail to P.O. Box 47866, Olympia, 98504; by fax to 360-236-4768; by e-mail to medicalmarijuana doh.wa.gov, or entered online at www.doh.wa.gov/hsqa/medical-marijuana/.Public workshops are scheduled around the state in mid-September, including a Seattle session on Sept. 10 from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Microsoft Auditorium at the Central Public Library, 1000 Fourth Ave. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by ekim on August 11, 2007 at 19:57:44 PT Public Servant? Not By A Long Shot Public Servant? Not By A Long Shot! Rusty White 08-Aug-2007 77 Once again we see Fox 4, my local Fox News affiliate, giving airtime to a known failure while claiming to be unbiased, fair, honest and open. Today in Dallas we were given false information in an attempt to justify this failure. Why? I watched as co-anchor Tim Ryan interviewed John Walters, the present Drug Czar, for the known failure called the War on Drugs. And sadly, once again we got the same old false propaganda about pot being a gateway drug, and fear mongering about those seeking treatment. Why? And how is drug testing our kids in school without cause or consent a good thing? I was hoping Tim would have asked Walters four simple questions: http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php?name=Blogs [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by ekim on August 11, 2007 at 19:44:31 PT one of the most widely used herbicides in the U.S. August 10, 2007 Following its recent decision to reregister 2,4 dichloro-phenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), the Environmental Protection Agency yesterday announced its Decision Not to Initiate a Special Review of 2,4-D, one of the most widely used herbicides in the U.S. and around the world. EPA's decision states: "Because the Agency has determined that the existing data do not support a conclusion that links human cancer to 2,4-D exposure, it has decided not to initiate a Special Review of 2,4-D, 2,4-DB and 2,4-DP." http://www.miagbiz.org/index.aspx?ascxid=fpQfStory&fpsid=29479&fpstid=1 [ Post Comment ] Post Comment