Cover Story
by Mike Richeson
The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act 2's Provisions
Naturopathic physicians could prescribe medical marijuana.
Physicians could qualify patients for any condition they see fit instead of only the eight conditions now listed in the law.
Patients could grow their own marijuana plants.
The limit of on-hand marijuana would be raised from an ounce to a pound.
Patients could buy marijuana at nonprofit dispensaries.
Caregivers would be able to receive direct payment from medical marijuana patients.
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Debate continues over
merits of legal marijuana
Hundreds of thousands of Americans are arrested each year for
possession of marijuana. Millions more admit to trying it at least once.
Recent polls show that the measure would pass. So far, more than 45,000 people have signed the petition.
On Jan. 21, 15-20 people gathered at It's a Wonderful Pizza in Southeast Portland for the Oregon National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) membership meeting to discuss what they could do to help.
The first order of business was to announce results of the Oregon Medical Cannabis Awards, where test findings concerning different plant strains' effectiveness on certain ills and pains were revealed.
"It was a success in spite of the Drug Enforcement Agency and an illegal police presence to intimidate us," Steven Cooper, Oregon NORML secretary, said.
The Drug Enforcement Agency had threatened to seize the Double Tree Hotel's property if illegal consumption of marijuana occurred. The Portland Police Bureau sent officers to watch over the event, upsetting event organizers.
"We are a legitimate, mainstream organization," Mr. Cooper said. He wore a blue vest with a button that said, "It's NORML to smoke pot!"
The members of Oregon NORML are unabashedly political. Madeline Martinez, executive director, announced that her goal "is to get rid of George Bush."
On a state level, medical marijuana supporters are upset with Congressman David Wu. "This fool is against medicinal cannabis," Mr. Cooper said. "We have to start inundating this guy with letters. Fifty-four percent of the voters approved medicinal marijuana; the representatives are not representing the people."
Oregon NORML is pushing to pass the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act 2. This would expand the 1998 legislation that allowed patients to obtain permits to use cannabis as medicine. Patients pay a yearly fee of $150 to the Health Department, which then verifies a physician's statement and issues the patient a registration card to legally use marijuana.
Almost 1,200 Oregon physicians have signed medical marijuana statements for more than 7,500 patients. Oregon state law allows the patients to possess less than an ounce, about a week's worth of cannabis.
Marijuana consumption is illegal under any circumstances according to federal law.
Most people who can use marijuana as medicine do not have the knowledge or money to grow their own plants. They must find a care-giver who can grow the plants for them. The situation is tricky because although caregivers can grow as much marijuana as they want, they can't sell any of their crops. Cash compensation is illegal.
In order to get around this, patients often pay for dirt and seeds, or directly pay the caregiver's household bills.
John Thomas, an attendee at the meeting, recently lost his job after testing positive for marijuana even though he is a legal user under the medicinal laws. He has been in numerous accidents that left him with crushed knee caps and chronic pain. He has consumed so many prescription painkillers that his stomach lining has been eaten away.
"I smoke pot, or I live in pain," he said.
In 2002, 613,986 Americans were arrested for possession of marijuana. "That is just outrageous," Martinez said. "This is a war on Americans."
Martinez, 52, has been smoking cannabis since she was 16. She uses it for her degenerative joint disease but began using the drug as a way to curb anxiety. Before moving to Portland, she worked as a peace officer in the California Department of Corrections.
She said she hopes that cannabis will soon be completely legal in Oregon, although with regulations. She said that regulation by the state could be a good source of tax revenue. Access to the drug would also be limited to adults, just as alcohol and cigarettes are. She said a legal age of 18 or 21 would be appropriate.
"If you can fight for your country at 18, you can probably smoke a bowl," she said.
The medicinal uses of marijuana are still being tested, but Oregon NORML and other supporters have high praise for this so-called wonder drug. "The connections between this plant and human bodies are remarkable," Martinez said. "They've found cannabis in mummies; humans have been using it for a long time.
"It's better than Zoloft or other prescriptions drugs that leave you in a stupor. I can smoke cannabis and still be alert and active."
The most common uses for medicinal marijuana are for chronic pain, for curbing spasms and an appetite stimulant for cancer and HIV patients.
Martinez is an active director, appearing on local cable access television, on radio programs and even in high schools to debate the merits of legalizing marijuana. "Fortunately, the walls of ignorance are crumbling," she said.
Opponents to the legalization of marijuana don't share the same optimism.
Jim Cottrell, executive director of Teen Challenge, the world's largest faith-based drug rehabilitation center, said he believes that the consequences of legalizing marijuana would be harmful. "I think you would find a continued loss of life and productivity with increased accidents, health problems and crime," he said.
"A hallmark quality of a marijuana user is that they just don't want to work." One of the traits that Teen Challenge tries to restore to the recovering addicts in the program is a positive work ethic.
In 2002, 19.5 million Americans aged 12 and over used illicit drugs. That number represents the population of Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska and Hawaii combined.
Last year, 52,000 Americans died in drug-related deaths. "Compare that to the 500 that have died in Iraq," Cottrell said. "We lose that many people every three-and-a-half days to drugs."
The Drug Abuse Warning Network showed that in 2001, marijuana was mentioned 16,559 times in emergency episodes that involved juveniles ages 6 to 17, almost three times more than cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and ecstasy combined.
Cottrell said that most drug users begin with marijuana.
"Of our 82 students in the program last year, all had a background with an extensive marijuana habit," he said. "Most of them can remember smoking their first joint and remembering that as a landmark choice in their lives. It put them on that path. They'll tell you it's a gateway."
The Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found that adolescents who smoke marijuana are 85 times more likely to use cocaine.
Martinez said that cannabis can be used responsibly and people who go on to harder drugs from cannabis would probably be addicts anyway. "Most kids start out sneaking their parents' cigarettes or alcohol. Those are the real gateway drugs, not marijuana," she said.
Martinez also dismisses the idea that legalizing marijuana would lead to a slippery slope legalizing all drugs. "Cannabis is not like cocaine or crack," she said. "You can't be a functioning crack addict for very long.
"We're mothers and fathers, even priests are using medicinal cannabis. We're productive people who go to work, but we're treated like lepers."
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