Legislators got an earful Wednesday from medical marijuana advocates who condemned a proposal to greatly restrict who can legally use the drug to combat illnesses.
It's the second time in recent weeks that the issue has come up, as some lawmakers have made it clear they think too many people are scamming the law that allows use of cannabis to treat some diseases and symptoms.
"I personally think the program is out of control," said Sen. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg, sponsor of one of the bills targeting the growth of medical marijuana use. "I know people who just find it a legal way to smoke pot."
Opponents called his proposal "heartless" and said it would subject cancer patients and other sick people who rely on marijuana to arrest and imprisonment. Read more »
The head of the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation in Portland, Paul Stanford, is working to put a measure on the 2012 ballot in Oregon to legalize marijuana.
Stanford told KATU marijuana should be regulated like cigarettes and liquor. He says taxes would bring a steady flow of revenue to the state.
Stanford needs nearly 90,000 signatures to make the ballot.
Last November, Oregon voters turned down a measure that would have allowed dispensaries to sell limited amounts of marijuana to Oregonians with medical marijuana cards.
Senate Bill 538, sponsored by Senator STARR (R-Hillsboro), requires drug testing for all adult applicants and recipients for public assistance; if the applicant or recipient fails the drug test, their benefits will be revoked:
SECTION 2. { + (1) The Department of Human Services shall adopt rules that require adult applicants for and recipients of public assistance to undergo testing for substances of abuse as defined in ORS 438.010.
Medical marijuana patients shouldn’t have to worry that they will “fail” this test, since “substances of abuse” under ORS 438.010 specifically exempts those “allowed by law and as defined in ORS chapter 475 [the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act is begins at ORS 475.300] or as used in ORS 689.005 [refers to prescription medication and other nonprescription medication given by a licensed pharmacist].” Read more »
This week’s cover story [see link below] about the business of marijuana included a source who has five years’ experience growing weed for the black market.
The man we called Dan Beaumont recently stopped growing, harvesting his last crop out of his Northeast Portland home in October. As noted in the story, Beaumont is starting a family and says he is set to graduate from Portland State University this spring.
But there’s one other factor Beaumont cites in his decision to exit the weed business. And it’s one that has repercussions far beyond Beaumont’s situation.
If California Proposition 19 and Oregon Measure 74 pass, what then?
Speculation runs the gamut: The price of marijuana will drop. Oregonians will flock to California to get high. Growers will ship product to the East Coast to get a better price. Police will have a more difficult time determining who's legally allowed to possess or distribute marijuana.
No one knows for sure what the impacts will be if California legalizes small amounts of marijuana and Oregon establishes state-run medical marijuana dispensaries, or what'll happen if one measure passes and the other doesn't.
A powerful Oregon state lawmaker says it's time for the Oregon legislature to take action on marijuana.
If a November ballot measure in California passes, he says he'd like to introduce legislation that would out-and-out legalize pot for adult consumption in Oregon.
This comes as California is getting ready to vote on legalization in November. If that bill, Proposition 19, passes – or if it only fails by a small margin – then the co-chair of Oregon's Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Peter Buckley, says it's time to have the discussion here. Read more »
In a rare international legal battle, the state of Oregon and a Canadian mother are fighting over the costs of nearly two years of foster care in Oregon for her 12-year-old son.
Lisa Kirkman lost custody of the boy in 2008 after she left him with his stepfather to spend summer vacation in Oregon. She regained custody in June.
The state is seeking to have her pay for the foster care, which averages about $24,000 a year. She is contesting the claim in a Canadian court. Read more »
A Calgary mother is poised to face off on Tuesday against the Oregon government, which she says has sued her for two years of foster care and medical expenses incurred after the state’s child welfare authorities apprehended her 10-year-old son while he was on a summer vacation.
Lisa Kirkman, who finally had her son, now 12, returned to her on June 11, says she has had no help from the Canadian government and anticipates Alberta government lawyers will fight her in provincial court on behalf of the state of Oregon.
“They forced my family into their broken system. I am angry at not only the state of Oregon, but at our own federal government. They abandoned the whole process,” a bitter Kirkman said of the state on Sunday, as she and her lawyers prepared to plot their strategy for what she expects to be a lengthy legal battle. Read more »
Spc. Richelle Gordon of the Oregon Army National Guard suffers from two incredibly painful autoimmune diseases. When she got to Madigan Army Medical Center in Washington state back in February, she arrived in a wheelchair, expecting to stay a few weeks and be medically retired from service. She immediately reported that she legally used cannabis to combat pain and nausea, and produced her Oregon medical marijuana card.
Now it's five months later, and Golden is still at Joint Base Lewis-McChord facing court-martial, caught between the laws of her home state, which allow medicinal marijuana use with a doctor's authorization, and the U.S. Army, which forbids it under any circumstances, reports Julie Sullivan at The Oregonian. Read more »
Peter Lewis, the billionaire chairman of Progressive Auto Insurance, is back dabbling in Oregon politics. He recently gave $12,800 for the November ballot measure allowing medical marijuana dispensaries in Oregon.
Given his past enthusiasm for pro-marijuana causes, it wouldn't be surprising if this isn't a down-payment for the Measure 74 campaign. Lewis and two of his fellow billionaires - currency trader George Soros and Phoenix University founder John Sterling - bankrolled the 1998 ballot measure allowing medicinal marijuana use.
In fact, that was just one of four medical marijuana measures passed that year thanks to the financial backing from the trio through their group, Americans for Medical Rights.
Lewis was also a big supporter of the Marijuana Policy Project, which sought to legalize the drug. If you can believe celebstoner.com (I confess a lack of familiarity with this segment of the news media), Lewis contributed some $40 million to the group over the course of a decade before having a falling-out with the organization earlier this year. Read more »
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Legislators got an earful Wednesday from medical marijuana advocates who condemned a proposal to greatly restrict who can legally use the drug to combat illnesses.
The head of the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation in Portland, Paul Stanford, is working to put a measure on the 2012 ballot in Oregon to legalize marijuana.
By Jen Alexander
This week’s cover story [see link below] about the business of marijuana included a source who has five years’ experience growing weed for the black market.
By Damian Mann, Mail Tribune
By Melica Johnson KATU News
By Daryl Slade, Postmedia News
By. Steve Elliot, Toke of the Town
By. Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian
