"MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW STYMIES POLICE"(Marijuananews
note: This is a good story, but headlines are generally not written by the reporter who
writes the article.
There are two reasons for this, space and content. The result is often a sensationalist
misrepresentation of the actual story. This is an example of this distortion, and it
reflects The Oregonian’s prohibitionist bias.
There is absolutely nothing in the article that says that the police have been
"stymied" in any way in enforcing the marijuana laws. They are drawing up
procedures, and naturally they are making the most of possible abuses, but they are more
honest than the editors of The Oregonian, faint praise.
The editors had decided that what this headline says is what would happen, and so that
is what their readers will read, regardless of what their reporters actually write. This
is an exceptionally clear example of prohibitionist propaganda.)
See
The Oregonian
Endorses Recrim To Send "A Clearer Message" – Yes, That Students Will Lose
Their Federal Aid
December 10, 1998
From The Oregonian
letters@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/
By Patrick O’Neill of The Oregonian staff
Law Enforcement Agencies Throughout The State Are Trying To Set Up
Guidelines For Marijuana Arrests In Light Of A Law
Until a week ago, law officers could assume that anyone they caught with marijuana was
a lawbreaker.
Not anymore.
Now officers have to answer a critical question: Is it dope or is it medicine?
On Dec. 3, Oregon’s new medical marijuana law made it legal for gravely ill people
to grow and own a small amount of marijuana to treat symptoms of certain diseases.
With the law came the possibility—for the first time in Oregon—that someone
who was found in possession of marijuana was not violating a state law. That means law
officers have to try to figure out whether the person with the marijuana is permitted to
have it under the law. It also leaves open the possibility—likelihood, some
say—that recreational users will try to hide behind the marijuana law to escape
prosecution.
Oregon’s new law, passed by voters Nov. 3, allows seriously ill people to apply
for a special permit through the State Health Division to possess marijuana. The permit
system is scheduled to go into effect by May 1. But even before then, the law can be
raised as a defense in court.
This week Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers released a list of recommendations
designed to help law enforcement officers tell the difference between criminal and
medicinal use of marijuana.
The recommendations suggest that officers verify claims of medical use by asking
questions to determine whether someone who has been found with marijuana:
Because the sale of marijuana is still a crime under the law, the recommendations
suggest officers should look for scales, packaging equipment and
records that would indicate a commercial operation.
The recommendations urge caution before seizing or destroying
marijuana plants and growing equipment. The new law prohibits officers from destroying or
even neglecting marijuana plants that they’ve seized from someone who is protected
under the law.
Rob Elkins, Molalla police chief, said the law requires officers to return marijuana
plants to their owners if the owners qualified for protection under the law.
But Elkins said giving back the marijuana would put officers at odds with federal laws
against trafficking in drugs. While the new law gives immunity from prosecution under
state law, federal law still forbids even sick people to use marijuana.
Elkins, a member of the working group that drew up the recommendations, said the list
wasn’t perfect.
"We realized there were going to be no absolute clear
guidelines that we could give,"
he said.
Michael Schrunk, Multnomah County district attorney, said the working group’s
recommendations are close to those drawn up by his office.
Schrunk said he did not expect a flood of requests for medical exemptions from
marijuana law. His office prosecuted about 900 felony marijuana
cases during the past year. But in the past three years, his office has had only 19 cases
in which suspects said they were using the marijuana for medical reasons. Of those cases,
he said, all but two or three were dismissed.
The law permits marijuana to be used by anyone who has been diagnosed with a
"debilitating medical condition" and who has been advised by an attending
physician that marijuana might help alleviate symptoms. Those conditions include cancer,
AIDS, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma as well as severe nausea associated with
chemotherapy.
Patients and certain designated caregivers are allowed to cultivate a maximum of three
mature and four immature marijuana plants and one ounce of usable marijuana per plant.
Copyright: 1998 The Oregonian
Supported