|
|
| Medical Marijuana Dilemma |
|
Posted by CN Staff on August 07, 2006 at 06:58:00 PT By Chris Conrad, Mail Tribune Source: Mail Tribune 
Oregon -- Medford police Lt. Tim George remembers the good old days when a cop could simply chop down a marijuana plant and ask questions later. Now, eight years after medical marijuana became a reality in Oregon, the line between right and wrong has become somewhat murky, George said."You ask any dope cop in Oregon about medical marijuana and they'll laugh you out of the room," he said. "There are probably some scenarios where people really need it for things such as glaucoma or cancer, but we have people with symptoms such as 'chronic pain' that are clearly taking advantage of the act." George criticizes the Legislature's raising the amount of medical marijuana a card holder can possess. It is now legal for a user to have 24 ounces of usable pot, six mature plants and 18 seedlings. "That's more than one person can smoke in a year," George said, laughing. Jackson County ranks third in the state in the number of medical marijuana card holders, according to state statistics. In fact, Jackson County's 1,038 card holders are not far behind higher populated counties such as Lane (Eugene), with 1,379, and Multnomah (Portland), with 1,838. Those numbers look to climb as the state received 5,579 new applications for marijuana cards between July 1, 2005, and June 30 this year. Also, medical marijuana advocacy clinics such as the Southern Oregonians Helping Ease Medical Problems (S.O.H.E.M.P.) advertise themselves in local classifieds, promising that a licensed physician will help people with documented ailments qualify for cards. The fallout from this, George said, is a bump in crime surrounding medical marijuana users in recent years. "We've had five recent burglaries reported to us where the suspects broke into homes looking to steal medical marijuana," said Medford Detective Sgt. Tim Doney. Considering a pound of marijuana can fetch between $1,500 and $2,500 on the street, it is a profitable target for burglars, George said. Jackson County sheriff's Detective Sgt. Colin Fagan said the motivation for most medical marijuana burglaries — including Tuesday's robbery in which four men bursting into a Talent home and stole medical marijuana at gunpoint — is money. "It's fairly common for us to receive reports of marijuana rip-offs," Fagan added. "And I can assure you that there are people with cards that are making a profit selling their excess marijuana." Both George and Fagan described how tough it is for cops to navigate the gray area created when marijuana went from being illegal in all cases to legal in a select few. Sheriff's detectives recently worked a case where marijuana plants were found growing on property belonging to Boise Cascade in White City. It turned out the pot belonged to a man with a medical card who apparently didn't know you had to grow it on your own property. "So there are times when law-abiding people are put into peril when marijuana is found on their property," Fagan said. "And most district attorney's don't see the use in prosecuting people who grow too many plants or place them where they shouldn't. It's hard to go after someone suffering from a disease who may need it for treatment." Fagan said most cops have learned to focus their energy on larger grows run by drug cartels. "If they're going to treat it like a prescription drug, then they should dose it out from pharmacies," George added. "I'm not cold enough to think that there aren't people who really need it, but the way it's being handled now simply makes it more accessible on the street." Source: Mail Tribune, The (Medford, OR) CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
 |
| Comment #14 posted by FoM on August 07, 2006 at 09:59:51 PT |
| I would love to see Yes or No with an explanation as an answer. Let's see if I can make a a loophole in a comment like politicans do. Here goes: It could possible be the answer but it might not be because we really just don't know what is is. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #13 posted by FoM on August 07, 2006 at 09:53:41 PT |
| Thank you. I don't like politics because issues that aren't issues become the issue. I didn't vote for Clinton but what he did in office made his wife angry and that was probably punishment in itself but what Bush has done hurts the whole world but we don't hear much about it. Values are all mixed up. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #12 posted by Hope on August 07, 2006 at 09:48:12 PT |
| "There are probably some scenarios where people really need it for things such as glaucoma or cancer, but we have people with symptoms such as 'chronic pain' that are clearly taking advantage of the act." (Key words for recognizing Assumed news: May, Probably, Might, etc.) [ Post Comment ] |
|
Comment #11 posted by kaptinemo on August 07, 2006 at 09:47:58 PT:
|
| But this in itself should ring alarm bells (from the article): "This Republican party employee goes on to tell me that she is there to attract people to the table that is set up in Fresno’s Courthouse Park, and that the legalize marijuana petition is just a prop. She confirmed that there is no ballot initiative to legalize marijuana. She said that the petition will be given to an elected official in Sacramento. I have my doubts about that."(Emphasis mine -k.) No mention of MPP. No mention of NORML. No mention of any of the better known local CA State organizations such as ASA. No mention of any such affilations. This stinks big time of political jiu jitsu and 'bait and switch' of the lowest order. They must really believe their propaganda about stoners being stupid if they think we'll let this get by without a legal kick to their pants. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #10 posted by E_Johnson on August 07, 2006 at 09:27:38 PT |
| Any police officer who purports to give medical advice without a license has indeed earned the title "dope cop." [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #9 posted by Wayne on August 07, 2006 at 08:58:25 PT |
| This is pretty low-down, but I'm sure Republicans and Democrats have done much worse than this. But this is the reason why I have doubts about changing marijuana laws through the voting process. Besides the fact that corruption is rampant... Why should we vote to change something that we never voted on to begin with? Unlike alcohol prohibition, we never voted to make marijuana illegal, we never asked to declare war on drugs, why should we have to vote to end it all? And if voicing our discontent to our elected officials never works, what makes us think that a ballot initiative will? The DEA has routinely ignored laws and verdicts long after they've come into effect. I'll leave that question to be answered by someone else, some other day. But it really does make you wonder... in this day and age, how making some marks on a piece of paper and dropping it in a box ever became sooooo complicated? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #8 posted by FoM on August 07, 2006 at 08:56:42 PT |
| Why do Republicans do that? They did that in 04 too. If a person registers as a Republican can't they vote for a Democrat? Is there a reason why Republicans want lots of people registered with their party? I think I will register as a Democrat at the CSNY Freedom of Speech tour if they have a booth set up. [ Post Comment ] |
|
Comment #7 posted by kaptinemo on August 07, 2006 at 08:26:03 PT:
|
| Sorry for the dramatics, but I just came across this a few minutes ago and felt everyone here should know about this: Legalizing Marijuana - A New Republican Strategy? The Republican Party has a new voter registration project in Fresno. It involves luring people to sign a LEGALIZE MARIJUANA petition and then re-registering them as Republicans. http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/03/18294421.php Looks like what I've been saying for years - that cannabists constitute the single largest voting bloc in the US - has been taken to heart by apparent Republican Party dirty tricksters. If this is indeed the case, it is both vindication for us and an indictaion of how low these b*****ds are willing to stoop. Historically, it has been the Republican Party that has been the prime movers and shakers in ratcheting up the penalties associated with cannabis possession and sales. If there is any truth to the allegations, then they need to be the recipients of a major lawsuit. Fresno cannabists, can you check on this? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by Treeanna on August 07, 2006 at 08:12:35 PT |
| I will tell him your comments :) He says "they may be premature...have to see if they bother to publish it first!" [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by afterburner on August 07, 2006 at 07:56:42 PT |
| Excellent letter. It's becoming quite obvious that the new rallying point in the War on Drugs is the attack on pain management. Doctors who seek only to ameliorate the pain of their patients are demonized. Patients themselves are ridiculed since no one else can see their pain or feel it. The Cruel War continues on the ill and the dying and on their caregivers. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by mai_bong_city on August 07, 2006 at 07:56:20 PT |
| maybe he'll end up in chronic pain - let's see how much he laughs then.....this is sickening..... [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by Graehstone on August 07, 2006 at 07:54:00 PT |
| Give your caregiver a great big hug from all of "us" patients for me please?
Much love and respect. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by Max Flowers on August 07, 2006 at 07:47:47 PT |
| Very nicely done. Thanks to you and your caregiver. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by Treeanna on August 07, 2006 at 07:34:20 PT |
| My caregiver and I live close to this paper, so my caregiver wrote an LTE: Dear Editor, It was disgusting to read the uninformed, unqualified, and self-serving comments by Lt. Tim George regarding medical marijuana. He and other “dope cops”, who make their living at the non-productive, failed “war on drugs” (including stealing from people not convicted of crimes via “asset forfeiture”) have no qualms making false statements to keep the drum beat of anti-marijuana propaganda thumping. Clearly, neither George nor any of his loved ones ever suffered “chronic pain”, or he might not be so dismissive and cruel regarding the suffering of those who have. Maybe a nice car wreck and a few spinal surgeries would cure his lack of compassion, but in the meantime, I guess if one’s condition isn’t immediately apparent to George (who does not have medical training, much less a doctorate, it seems), that means a patient doesn’t have a right to use the medication of their choice. Finally, George, without being a doctor, and without citation to supporting documentation, goes on to state that 24 ounces of medical marijuana is “more than one person can smoke in a year”. In fact, the Federal Government, as part of its Investigational New Drug Program, gives medical marijuana patients 5.8 to 7.2 pounds of marijuana per year (that’s 92.8 to 124.8 ounces). Unfortunately the program is closed to new applicants. The government found out that the marijuana was working, non-toxic, and had few side effects. Those results are a threat to the profits of the drug companies, and of the prison industrial complex. Follow the money. [ Post Comment ] |
| Post Comment |  |
 |  |