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| Fed Review of Marijuana Baffles Oregon Officials |
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Posted by FoM on March 24, 2002 at 08:20:31 PT By The Associated Press Source: Seattle Times 
For unknown reasons, the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, is looking into the medical-marijuana programs in Oregon and three other states. "It's a little baffling, and it's an uncomfortable kind of bafflement," said Mary Leverette, acting manager of Oregon's 3-year-old program that allows sick people to grow and smoke marijuana with a doctor's permission. In light of Attorney General John Ashcroft's battle with Oregon over the state's assisted-suicide law, backers of the marijuana program say this is another case of the federal government interfering with states' rights. When Leverette met with GAO staff last month, she raised that issue — but didn't get an answer. GAO investigators interviewed Leverette, state public-health officer Dr. Grant Higginson and Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Noelle, as well as district attorneys and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Portland. Leverette said she was told the nature of the inquiry was confidential. Reviewers disclosed only that they were looking at medical-marijuana programs in four states — Oregon, California, Colorado and Hawaii — to see how they prevented abuse. Nine states have medical-marijuana laws. The GAO report was requested by U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., chairman of the House subcommittee on criminal justice, drug policy and human resources. In mid-February, two GAO reviewers and an auditor interviewed state officials about the medical-marijuana law, its rules, the application process and the numbers of patients and doctors involved. The state released the number of applicants for medical-marijuana cards but did not disclose the names of applicants, cardholders and authorizing physicians, Leverette said. As of Feb. 19, the day Leverette was questioned, there were 1,691 medical-marijuana cardholders in Oregon. Those applications collectively were endorsed by 434 doctors — about 5 percent of the state's licensed physicians. Complete Title: Fed Review of Marijuana Law Baffles Oregon Official Source: Seattle Times (WA) Related Articles: Will of Oregon Voters Meaningless To Ashcroft John Ashcroft Declares War On Non-Terrorists Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #10 posted by FoM on March 27, 2002 at 19:19:00 PT |
| No I never saw the transcripts. I watched the program. I worry about censorship too but will give them a few days to get them up. They really don't update transcripts but every few days. Let's hope it is because they are slow because it was an excellent program. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #9 posted by Jose Melendez on March 27, 2002 at 18:53:36 PT |
| 03/26/02 Transcript for Tuesday, March 26, 2002
This evening's transcript is currently unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please check back later. maybe they needed to run it past the lawyers... FoM, did you actually read the text of these? If so, they were once up but are now off the site. If I didn't know as a webmaster it is hard to keep everything current, I'd be claiming this was censorship! :)
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| Comment #8 posted by FoM on March 27, 2002 at 17:20:27 PT |
| It's great to read you are doing better. Here are the transcripts for the date March 25th. They are not posted as of a moment ago. They sometimes take a few days to get them up. The first half of the program was about cannabis and legalization. You need your cookies on to get this link. It should be up soon. PS: You should find a nice herbal tea to drink from time to time. I can't spell chamomile correctly but that is the tea that comes to my mind. http://abc.abcnews.go.com/primetime/politicallyincorrect/episodes/2001-02/325.html [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #7 posted by el_toonces on March 27, 2002 at 16:37:48 PT:
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| ...as soon as I saw your comment under another excellent C-News article about the PI last night, I regretted going to bed earlier than usual. Of course, that is happening now more often as I have full, active and productive days on my "new" medicine (and going off the old). I was wondering about the transcripts but had faith they would be in your hot little hands as soon as they were available.:) Be well. M [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by FoM on March 27, 2002 at 10:52:35 PT |
| Yes our glass is half full. They know. They just haven't accepted the fact that we are right. They will. Last night they repeated a program on marijuana on Politically Incorrect and on March 25th they really had a lively talk about Cannabis and Prince Harry and legalization. I've been looking for the transcripts but they aren't up so far but will keep looking. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #5 posted by el_toonces on March 27, 2002 at 10:39:28 PT:
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| ....that the feds already know how bad they look in the eyes of people not only in those states but about 70% of people everywhere, and are trying to discretely learn a way to give the Joyces of the world "assurance" their phony construct of a 'drug free' society would not evaporate (it being as immutable as the rest of their minds and as phony as the drug war itself but as necessary for people who 'need' to have a 'war' on the biological drive to alter consciousness) if Uncle Sam caught up with the rest of the civilized world and perhaps did the re-scheduling that is required to remove the most central flaw in the CSA of 1970? It did take Nixon to go to China........:) Today the glass is half full......, El [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #4 posted by lineman on March 27, 2002 at 09:21:03 PT:
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| Lots of people in Illinois and Indiana are fighting Souder. If he is defeated it will send a message to drug warriors everywhere. If you live anywhere near the midwest....It is time to get active! Time spent fighting Souder is time well spent, believe me. To tell drug warriors everywhere "Your job is in danger if you are too fanatical" is badly needed thing. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on March 26, 2002 at 04:48:47 PT:
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| It was Souder who wrote the letter to Ashcroft demanding the raids on the California Compassion Clubs: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/11/thread11634.shtml From the article: Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, says the local raid had "been in the works for a while." It may have been prompted, in part, by a letter to Ashcroft from Mark E. Souder, R-Ind., chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees federal drug policy, following the Supreme Court ruling. Souder wrote, "We urge you to now move swiftly to give effect to that ruling throughout the United States with respect to 'medical marijuana' provisions contrary to the court's unanimous decision." Souder also requested that the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, determine how the eight states with medical-marijuana provisions are overseeing these new laws. Paul Jones, the GAO official in charge of the effort, says he received Souder's request in June and currently has "three or four" full-time staffers working on it. Oddly enough, the GAO's first move was to visit the LACRC, purportedly to learn how the organization worked. Imler charges that the four analysts who came to the club took scant interest in his diligent records. Instead, they pressed him on where he got his pot. He showed them his grow room with its hundreds of plants and also mentioned his off-site suppliers, Lynn and Judy Osburn, who grew substantial amounts for the club at their home in Ventura County. Hearing this, Imler says, the GAO analysts left in a great hurry. Within an hour, a search warrant was signed for the Osburns, who were raided the next day. In short, Souder is using all the means at his disposal bureaucratically, to undermine what he could not possibly do otherwise: destroy the democratic process. As far as I am concerned, he long ago joined the ranks of 'enemies, foreign and domestic' as the Constitution describes such people. Indiana, throw this traitor out! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by null on March 24, 2002 at 11:06:18 PT |
| The GAO report was requested by U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., chairman of the House subcommittee on criminal justice, drug policy and human resources. Will Indiana please vote Souder out of office!? Of course, he'll probably suffer the fate of Ashcroft (who couldn't win the election against a deadman in his home state!) and get promoted to a Federal appointment by GW Bush. Hopefully those 4 state programs are running tight ships and get the stamp of approval from the GAO. That would really steam Souder. ha! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by The GCW on March 24, 2002 at 10:00:29 PT |
| US CO: Police Reject Activist's Request For Peek At 'Spy File'
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n550/a09.html?397 Keith Evan Rude figures he's made it into the Denver Police Department "spy files" as an outspoken proponent of legalized marijuana and access for the disabled. [ Post Comment ] |
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