Medical Marijuana, Pt. 2: Laws and Protection

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Several years ago, Oregon's medical marijuana law was slightly amended, allowing patients more plants and dried product.

Ever since that law was changed, police say, they've been getting more calls from concerned citizens who believe an illegal drug operation is going on in their neighborhood.

Scrutiny from the public isn't the only concern legitimate and legal patients have. It's security for themselves and for their medicine.

"There's already so many patients out there that you probably know one, they're just responsible about their use," said Daniel Chandler.

He knows that responsibility because he's a patient for arthritis and pain he says he has from old football injuries.

Chandler also is responsible for directing the Portland office of MAMA, Mother's Against Misuse and Abuse. It's a traveling clinic of sorts, that comes to Bend once a month to help the 72 patients in Jefferson County, the 88 people in Crook County and the 890 in Deschutes County.

The county with the most medical marijuana users: Multnomah at 3,686.

Chandler says many opponents he runs into believe most of these patients just want a legal reason to smoke the drug they enjoy recreationally.

"The people who are thinking that are blissfully ignorant of the science behind medical cannabis," he said. "They are falling into 70 years of thought versus 700 millennia of thought. There's not much I can say to them besides, these are the facts."

In Oregon, the facts are these: Each patient is allowed six mature plants - that's anything over a foot tall. They can have 18 seedlings, or plants shorter than 12 inches. And they're allowed 24 ounces of dried pot - that's more than a regular size box of cereal.

Police agree, that's a lot of marijuana for just one person.

But Oregon is unique and different from its California neighbor. There, patients can go to clinics and pick up their quantities of medicine, kind of like a pharmacy. Here, you're on your own.

Patients can name a friend to grow it for them if they don't want the responsibility. That person will then become a legal cardholder and must register their address with the state. But if they're not an actual medical patient of the law, it would be illegal for them to consume it.

Police acknowledge it's hard to believe some growers aren't partaking of the drug when they shouldn't be. But for the most part, officers say the number of cardholders out of compliance is very low.

"Based on what I've seen by talking to these groups, most are sincere about what they're doing, and they're doing it for what they think is a medical purpose and are not wanting to abuse that and lose that," said Lt. John Gautney with the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team.

When NewsChannel 21 reports on a big bust, Gautney is usually involved. Lately, neighbors are looking closer, people are watching out - and with 20,00 medical marijuana patients registered statewide, each with that amount of pot, the calls have been coming in.

"People are growing it in their greenhouse or backyard," Gautney told NewsChannel 21. "People who have houses for sale, they send a Realtor in and they find evidence of a marijuana grow in the house and they report to us, thinking it's illegal."

On Monday night, we showed you almost all medical marijuana patients want to remain anonymous, because of the social stigma that goes along with it but also for very real security reasons.

In October, a legal grow in Bend was burglarized and ransacked. 20-year-old Aaron Cheak was sentenced to three months in jail for breaking into a friend's home and stealing the plants at gunpoint.

"At that point, he took a firearm out of his waistband and pointed it at the gentleman and basically demanded his weed," said Bend Police Sgt. Brian Kindel.

Then, in another case, Joshua Zukoski of Bend was arrested. "He had a legal patient card to possess marijuana, but he was selling it to other people who did not have the legal right to possess it," Lt. Gautney said.

The Oregon Medical Marijuana Program respects patient privacy. Police can call the Department of Human Services in Salem to ask if a grow is legal or not, but the officers must have a name and an address, and the state can only say respond with a yes or no. If the police only have a name and no address or vice versa, they get nothing.

Gautney says if you're a legal patient, keep your stash locked up, don't grow it in plain sight and don't tell too many people who could take advantage.

But for him to even offer this advice and protect legal marijuana patients from crime instead of busting it up like he's trained, he admits is kind of strange.

"When a police officer takes an oath, they swear they'll uphold the Constitution and laws enacted by the people," Gautney said. "This is a law enacted by the people, therefore, we have to uphold that regardless of personal views maybe or how we may feel about it."

Twelve other states have similar medical marijuana laws. There are many more rules and clauses in the Oregon law than what was presented here.

For more information you can click on the News Links section of this website for a link to the state's Medical Marijuana Program.

Medical Marijuana, Pt. 1: Patients Tell Their Story


News Hawk: User: http://www.420magazine.com/
Source: KTVZ
Author: Nina Mehlhaf
Copyright: 2008 WorldNow and KTVZ
Contact: KTVZ.com Central Oregons News, Weather and Sports Leader - Home
Website: KTVZ.com Central Oregons News, Weather and Sports Leader - Medical Marijuana, Pt. 2: Laws and protection