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The Westside Interagency Narcotics team says its recent annual sweep against outdoor marijuana grows weeded out participants in the state's medical marijuana program who were growing more pot than the law allows.
Washington County Sheriff's Office Sgt. David Thompson says late summer is when outdoor growers harvest their crop. Outdoor grow investigations used to lead narcotics agents almost exclusively to private or public land in the woods - sometimes tended by a single caretaker living in a tent.
But between Aug. 23 and 29, WIN agents served 12 search warrants on residential properties, 10 of which had residents registered with the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, Thompson said. Two men were arrested.
Agents arrested 29-year-old Brandon Volkerts Aug. 28 at a residence in the 28100 block of NW Timber Road, in unincorporated Washington County west of Banks. Volkerts was charged with distribution, manufacture and possession of marijuana and felon in possession of a firearm after agents found 60 marijuana plants, $12,000 in cash and 12 guns, including rifles, shotguns and handguns. Volkerts is registered with the OMMP as a "caregiver" and a "patient."
And detectives say they arrested 28-year-old licensed provider Michael Mackendrick Aug. 27 at a home in the 10000 block of Oregon Highway 219. After an undercover agent observed Mackendrick trying to sell a pound of the drug for $3,000, he was booked into Washington County Jail on suspicion of distribution, manufacture and possession of marijuana. Along with 225 mature pot plants, agents seized 40 pounds of packaged marijuana, cash and a loaded handgun.
"Evidence showed he was not only well over the amount of marijuana he could legally grow and possess at his residence, but that he was also distributing marijuana for a profit," Thompson said.
A caregiver can possess a pound-and-a-half of marijuana and a grower can be in possession of a pound-and-a-half of marijuana and can grow 24 plants per patient, 18 immature and 6 mature plants, Thompson said. Forty pounds of pot has a street value of $120,000, though this amount can go up substantially if the marijuana is broken up for sale in smaller amounts.
County Sheriff Rob Gordon has tussled with the workings of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program over the years.
In 2008, he released a map marked with icons where out-of-compliance medical marijuana grows had been busted. The map didn't include specific addresses or names, but raised the ire of the Oregon chapter of the National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws, an organization fighting to decriminalize appropriate pot use.
This year, a June 17 decision by the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld two previous rulings against Gordon, who since 2006, has sought to deny concealed handgun permits to medical marijuana users.
But in April, the Oregon Supreme Court joined a growing list of state supreme courts ruling that workers who use medical marijuana can still be fired for violating federal law.
Using the same argument as the April case, Assistant County Counsel Elmer Dickens filed briefs in state Supreme Court requesting immediate review of the Court of Appeals decision regarding concealed weapons.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source:Oregon Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - OregonLive.com
Author: Kurt Eckert
Contact: Contact Us at OregonLive.com: Oregon's leading news, information and community Web site with The Oregonian and The Hillsboro Argus
Copyright: 2010 Oregon Live LLC.
Website:Narcotics team weeds out medical pot cheaters - OregonLive.com
Washington County Sheriff's Office Sgt. David Thompson says late summer is when outdoor growers harvest their crop. Outdoor grow investigations used to lead narcotics agents almost exclusively to private or public land in the woods - sometimes tended by a single caretaker living in a tent.
But between Aug. 23 and 29, WIN agents served 12 search warrants on residential properties, 10 of which had residents registered with the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, Thompson said. Two men were arrested.
Agents arrested 29-year-old Brandon Volkerts Aug. 28 at a residence in the 28100 block of NW Timber Road, in unincorporated Washington County west of Banks. Volkerts was charged with distribution, manufacture and possession of marijuana and felon in possession of a firearm after agents found 60 marijuana plants, $12,000 in cash and 12 guns, including rifles, shotguns and handguns. Volkerts is registered with the OMMP as a "caregiver" and a "patient."
And detectives say they arrested 28-year-old licensed provider Michael Mackendrick Aug. 27 at a home in the 10000 block of Oregon Highway 219. After an undercover agent observed Mackendrick trying to sell a pound of the drug for $3,000, he was booked into Washington County Jail on suspicion of distribution, manufacture and possession of marijuana. Along with 225 mature pot plants, agents seized 40 pounds of packaged marijuana, cash and a loaded handgun.
"Evidence showed he was not only well over the amount of marijuana he could legally grow and possess at his residence, but that he was also distributing marijuana for a profit," Thompson said.
A caregiver can possess a pound-and-a-half of marijuana and a grower can be in possession of a pound-and-a-half of marijuana and can grow 24 plants per patient, 18 immature and 6 mature plants, Thompson said. Forty pounds of pot has a street value of $120,000, though this amount can go up substantially if the marijuana is broken up for sale in smaller amounts.
County Sheriff Rob Gordon has tussled with the workings of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program over the years.
In 2008, he released a map marked with icons where out-of-compliance medical marijuana grows had been busted. The map didn't include specific addresses or names, but raised the ire of the Oregon chapter of the National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws, an organization fighting to decriminalize appropriate pot use.
This year, a June 17 decision by the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld two previous rulings against Gordon, who since 2006, has sought to deny concealed handgun permits to medical marijuana users.
But in April, the Oregon Supreme Court joined a growing list of state supreme courts ruling that workers who use medical marijuana can still be fired for violating federal law.
Using the same argument as the April case, Assistant County Counsel Elmer Dickens filed briefs in state Supreme Court requesting immediate review of the Court of Appeals decision regarding concealed weapons.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source:Oregon Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - OregonLive.com
Author: Kurt Eckert
Contact: Contact Us at OregonLive.com: Oregon's leading news, information and community Web site with The Oregonian and The Hillsboro Argus
Copyright: 2010 Oregon Live LLC.
Website:Narcotics team weeds out medical pot cheaters - OregonLive.com
