T
The420Guy
Guest
When Bob Walker decided two-and-a-half years ago to organize a
support network for members of Oregon's medical marijuana program, he found
doctors he spoke to were unwilling to cooperate.
"I talked to absolutely every doctor in Curry County,
including mine," said Walker, who is popularly known as Brother Bob. "They
all had the same right-wing attitude, that marijuana didn't have any
medicinal value."
That made it difficult to get patient records released so
Walker could verify they were eligible for the program, launched after
voters approved the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act in 1998.
But as a growing number of patients with debilitating
illnesses asked their doctors to let them try medicinal marijuana,
physicians have become more accepting and less skeptical.
"They just had to figure out that I was totally legal," said
Walker, whose Southern Oregon Medical Marijuana Network (SOMM-NET) is a
registered non-profit group.
Walker says he has just added 29 more patients to the network,
which has grown to about 230 permitted cardholders with illnesses ranging
from multiple sclerosis to juvenile arthritis.
"When a program like this first starts, you've got to get the
numbers," said Walker. "People have been lied to for so long, they don't
know what to expect.
"Now they figure, Brother Bob's not going to go away."
The retired commercial fisherman regularly introduces patients
to viewers of his weekly half-hour cable TV program, which airs on
Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on KBSC-TV (Charter Cable's channel 9).
A cardholder himself, the 62-year-old Walker is permitted to
grow plants for treatment of his heart disease - specifically, the
paralysis and seizures that come with it.
Walker's network is designed to guide a patient through the
entire process of getting a permit to grow medical marijuana, then helping
them put it to use.
An applicant is faxed a form to authorize release of their
medical records to Walker, who checks them to see if the person has a
qualifying debilitating disease.
"Over two-and-a-half years I've gotten as good at reading
records as any doctor," said Walker. "It's common sense, anyone could do it."
After Walker has confirmed the nature of the person's illness,
they are referred to a clinic where a nurse practitioner gives them a
physical examination.
The results of the exam and other paperwork are recorded in
triplicate - copies are sent to the state, the person's doctor and one is
kept by the clinic - with the approved application and a $150 money order,
the state's fee for the permit.
Oregon's Department of Health, which operates the medical
marijuana program, doesn't refer applicants to medical doctors or
osteopaths, the only people who can legally approve a permit.
Thus SOMM-NET's applicants get their permits approved by Dr.
Phillip Leveque, the retired osteopath who has authorized most of the
medical marijuana applications in Oregon since 1998.
Dr. Leveque visited Curry County for a clinic last weekend.
Walker, who says he has had no problems with law enforcement, says the
location of the clinic's is nonetheless kept on a need-to-know basis to
avoid harassment of Leveque and others.
Once they are given a permit, the patient or their caregiver
become responsible for getting seeds and growing the plants - the state
doesn't offer any help with that.
Patients are allowed to grow up to seven plants, but only
three can be budding. They aren't allowed to have more than an ounce of
smokeable marijuana in their possession.
That's where the network again comes in handy, as patients
give each other advice on how to grow and harvest their own plants, or
share extra marijuana when they find themselves with more than allowed.
Nancie MacEachern, a cardholder who got her permit before
Walker had SOMM-NET organized, said she was on her own when she got her
permit in 1999.
"I was just kind of lucky," said MacEachern, who uses
marijuana to keep the symptoms of her multiple sclerosis in check. "I put
out the word I had a permit, and I found two plants on my porch one morning."
MacEachern said her condition improved dramatically after she
stopped taking a myriad of prescription pills and followed her husband's
advice to look into medical marijuana.
"He's the one who clipped an ad out of a newspaper and said
'you should really think about this,'" recalled MacEachern, whose doctor
told her recently he couldn't continue authorizing her permit for fear of
losing his Medicare eligibility.
"At 59 years old, I had never taken an illegal drug," said
MacEachern.
"If I have to do it illegally now, I think that would be my
right to live."
Curry Coastal Pilot is a community newspaper serving Curry
County on the Southern Oregon Coast from Brookings, Oregon.
Date: Sat, 09 Nov 2002
By DAVID COURTLAND
Pilot Staff Writer
support network for members of Oregon's medical marijuana program, he found
doctors he spoke to were unwilling to cooperate.
"I talked to absolutely every doctor in Curry County,
including mine," said Walker, who is popularly known as Brother Bob. "They
all had the same right-wing attitude, that marijuana didn't have any
medicinal value."
That made it difficult to get patient records released so
Walker could verify they were eligible for the program, launched after
voters approved the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act in 1998.
But as a growing number of patients with debilitating
illnesses asked their doctors to let them try medicinal marijuana,
physicians have become more accepting and less skeptical.
"They just had to figure out that I was totally legal," said
Walker, whose Southern Oregon Medical Marijuana Network (SOMM-NET) is a
registered non-profit group.
Walker says he has just added 29 more patients to the network,
which has grown to about 230 permitted cardholders with illnesses ranging
from multiple sclerosis to juvenile arthritis.
"When a program like this first starts, you've got to get the
numbers," said Walker. "People have been lied to for so long, they don't
know what to expect.
"Now they figure, Brother Bob's not going to go away."
The retired commercial fisherman regularly introduces patients
to viewers of his weekly half-hour cable TV program, which airs on
Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on KBSC-TV (Charter Cable's channel 9).
A cardholder himself, the 62-year-old Walker is permitted to
grow plants for treatment of his heart disease - specifically, the
paralysis and seizures that come with it.
Walker's network is designed to guide a patient through the
entire process of getting a permit to grow medical marijuana, then helping
them put it to use.
An applicant is faxed a form to authorize release of their
medical records to Walker, who checks them to see if the person has a
qualifying debilitating disease.
"Over two-and-a-half years I've gotten as good at reading
records as any doctor," said Walker. "It's common sense, anyone could do it."
After Walker has confirmed the nature of the person's illness,
they are referred to a clinic where a nurse practitioner gives them a
physical examination.
The results of the exam and other paperwork are recorded in
triplicate - copies are sent to the state, the person's doctor and one is
kept by the clinic - with the approved application and a $150 money order,
the state's fee for the permit.
Oregon's Department of Health, which operates the medical
marijuana program, doesn't refer applicants to medical doctors or
osteopaths, the only people who can legally approve a permit.
Thus SOMM-NET's applicants get their permits approved by Dr.
Phillip Leveque, the retired osteopath who has authorized most of the
medical marijuana applications in Oregon since 1998.
Dr. Leveque visited Curry County for a clinic last weekend.
Walker, who says he has had no problems with law enforcement, says the
location of the clinic's is nonetheless kept on a need-to-know basis to
avoid harassment of Leveque and others.
Once they are given a permit, the patient or their caregiver
become responsible for getting seeds and growing the plants - the state
doesn't offer any help with that.
Patients are allowed to grow up to seven plants, but only
three can be budding. They aren't allowed to have more than an ounce of
smokeable marijuana in their possession.
That's where the network again comes in handy, as patients
give each other advice on how to grow and harvest their own plants, or
share extra marijuana when they find themselves with more than allowed.
Nancie MacEachern, a cardholder who got her permit before
Walker had SOMM-NET organized, said she was on her own when she got her
permit in 1999.
"I was just kind of lucky," said MacEachern, who uses
marijuana to keep the symptoms of her multiple sclerosis in check. "I put
out the word I had a permit, and I found two plants on my porch one morning."
MacEachern said her condition improved dramatically after she
stopped taking a myriad of prescription pills and followed her husband's
advice to look into medical marijuana.
"He's the one who clipped an ad out of a newspaper and said
'you should really think about this,'" recalled MacEachern, whose doctor
told her recently he couldn't continue authorizing her permit for fear of
losing his Medicare eligibility.
"At 59 years old, I had never taken an illegal drug," said
MacEachern.
"If I have to do it illegally now, I think that would be my
right to live."
Curry Coastal Pilot is a community newspaper serving Curry
County on the Southern Oregon Coast from Brookings, Oregon.
Date: Sat, 09 Nov 2002
By DAVID COURTLAND
Pilot Staff Writer