oct nov 2010 page 1 to 5
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Volume 1 Issue 3TRANSCRIPT
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Skor Weed Bites
Good Karmals
Ganja Lasagna
Serenity Garlic Roasted Mashed Potatoes
with Bud Butter
Language of Cannabis: The
Endocannabinoid System
Marijuana is Medicine for Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Canadian Researchers Establish Scientific
Basis For Medical Use Of Cannabis
Cannabis Friendly Addiction Services
FOX Affiliate Airs Nation's First TV Ad For
Medical Marijuana
Sidelined Because He Can’t Use the
Medicine That Works
Widespread Racial Disparities in Marijuana
Enforcement in California's 25 Largest
Counties
Failed Marijuana Policies Are a Bi-partisan
Boondoggle
Citizens and Activists Network at the
Seattle Hempfest
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Page 3
Page 3
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Page 6
Page 7/8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 12
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Page 13
Page 13
Page 15
Page 15
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Page 16
Page 17
A Listing of Oregon Clinics, Organizations,
and Businesses
Page 20
Citizens Initiative Review Backs M74
Harvest Home for Cardholders
NORML Says “Just Say Now!” in Portland
Oregon Media’s Reefer Madness
Representative Peter Buckley Will
Introduce Legalization Bill to Legislature
Oregon News Nugs - News from Around The
State
The Measure 74 Debate - Oregon Experts
Provide Their Opinions
The Rising Tide - OCC's Take on Measure 74
1st Annual Jefferson State Hemp Expo a
Huge Success
Portland's Hempstalk is Still Going Strong
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It’s Not Too Late to Get Ready for Next
Year’s Crop Now - Jenifer Valley
Harvest Tips - Mr. FixIt
Page 18
The newly formed Oregon Citizen's
Initiative Review (CIR) panel spent the
week of August 16th through 20th
considering Measure 74 in order to make
a recommendation to voters on the
initiative. After 4 days of presentations
from advocates and opposition, the panel
voted 13 to 11 to endorse the measure.
The recommendation will appear as a
ballot statement in the voters pamphlet
which is mailed to all Oregon voters
before November's election.
I spent a few days covering the panel and
found the process informative and
effective. The panel was comprised of 24
Oregon voters selected randomly from a
sample of over 300. The CIR mailed over
10,000 "invitations" to voters asking for
their help in the CIR review process.
Panelists were chosen from over 300
voters that replied. The panel is provided
lodging, meals, and $150.00 per day for
each panelist's participation, which was
paid for by private
funding and
donations through
Healthy Democracy
Now (HDN), a non-
profit which
organized the review.
The review consisted
of one day to
organize the
upcoming presentations, three to four
days of pro advocates and con advocates
presenting testimony and information,
and about one day to draft the ballot
statement. The presentations were
formal, but not sworn testimony as a
courtroom would have. Presentations
were followed by question and answer
sessions from panelists, providing
panelists a chance to review the
information and then follow up with
clarifying questions.
Volunteers from HDN organized and
moderated the event and provided the
panelists meals and refreshments. The
moderators did a good job, but panelists
sometimes expressed personnal
experiences, inserted emotional outbursts,
and often focused on irrelevant
information, sometimes making it difficult
for the moderators to keep the panel
focused on the basics of the initiative.
The pro advocates were well informed and
very well prepared, and showed up in
person. They included John Sajo (Dir.
Voter Power, co-author M74), Greg
Barton (Former Assistant Attorney
General for Oregon), Anthony Johnson
(Dir. Oregon Green Free Clinical Services
and Co-petitioner of M74), Sunil Aggarwal
M.D. (Univ. Of Washington Medical
School), Don Duncan (CA. Dir. Of
Americans for Safe Access), Mary Lynn
Mathre (Patients out of Time), Mike
Krawitz (Veterans
Administration
Medical Patient),
Christine
McGarvin (Dir.
Institute for
Cannabis
Theraputics), and
quite a few more.
The con advocates
were few and far between. On the first
few days, the only presentations done in
person were by Sheriff Tom Bergin of
Clatsop County and Clatsop County D.A.
Josh Marquis. A couple of other
presenters provided information by
telephone, including Dr. Andrea
Barthwell M.D., Chief Scott Kirkland of
the El Cerrito Police Dept.
Pro advocates spent their time explaining
the measures basic contents and then,
answering questions of panelists.
Focusing on regulations, fees, taxes, and
the need for patient access, the pro
advocates covered many topics of the
measure. To explain the importance of a
well regulated supply system, Don
Duncan of ASA said, "Our research and
our experience shows that sensible
regulations reduce crime and reduce
complaints while providing the access that
patients need."
One panelist who clearly supported the
OMMP program asked if the measure
would discourage or incurr more expenses
on current growers or caregivers. John
Sajo explained, "We maintain every part
of the current program and all the rights
patients have, were just adding this
dispensary system as an overlay on
that...a safety net if you will". Sajo
answered another panelists question
regarding pricing, and whether it would
be set by the state or determined through
competition, saying "“we thought the best
way to bring the price down was to have a
competitive system where dispensaries
and producers would be competing with
each other.”
It's almost that time of year. Way back in
the cold, grey days of April and early May,
this seemed so far away! But now Medical
Marijuana gardens all over Oregon are
approaching harvest - and that means it
is time to start thinking about making
sure that you get to enjoy the fruits of
your labor. Here are some ideas to make
sure that your crop remains the safe and
available medicine that you have been
anticipating for months.
• Do you recall the old war slogan “loose
lips sink ships”? Many garden robberies
are a result of the wrong people knowing
that the garden is there in the first place.
It is difficult to restrain your excitement
at this time, but telling the world how
great your plants look might be a tip-off
for a rip-off. Remember what Gandalf told
Frodo about that magic ring, “Keep it
secret. Keep it safe.”
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Cont. on Page 7
Cont. on Page 5
Citizens Initiative
Review Backs M74
By Keith Mansur
Oregon Cannabis Connection
Harvest Home for
Cardholders
By Melanie Barniskis,
Pro-Oregon
The Salem Conference Center in downtown
Salem provided a great venue for the Citizens
Initiative Review
CIR Panelists listening to presenters. The
moderators did a good job with the sessions.
For the last 38 years, National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana
Laws (NORML) has held a conference to
educate the public on the facts of
marijuana and to discuss the year’s
progress in the push for marijuana
reform. This year, the 39th Annual
NORML Conference was held at the
Governor Hotel in Portland, Oregon from
Thursday, September 09, 2010 to
Saturday, September 11, 2010; and this
year felt a little different.
As NORML
Executive
Director Allen
St. Pierre put
it, “this is not
the eleventh
hour, this is
thee hour”.
With the vote
for PROP 19 in
California for
the regulation,
control and
taxation of
marijuana, and Oregon’s own Measure,
M74, which, if passed, will allow for the
opening of medical marijuana
dispensaries in Oregon, on the November
ballot, this seems to be our time. People
from all over the country attended to
represent their state’s NORML Chapter,
as well as an impressive array of doctors,
lawyers,
politicians, and
public
personalities.
Sadly, the most
notable absence
this year was that
of Jack Herer, who
passed away on
April 15th, 2010,
so in his honor,
and from this year
forward, NORML
has decided to keep his memory alive by
permanently renaming all their
conference vending areas, “The Jack
Herer Hemposium and Exposition Hall”.
Thursday was opening day for the
conference and consisted of talks from an
Oregon congressman, NORML Chairmen,
panels directed at the politics of
marijuana legalization, and some
breakout sessions on various topics from
Tools and strategies for NORML chapters
to the cultivation of marijuana.
NORML Board Chairman Steve Dillon,
Esq. and Allen St. Pierre, Executive
Director of NORML, welcomed this year’s
conference-goers and introduced us to
Congressman Earl Blumenauer,
Representative of Oregon’s 3rd District.
Congressman Blumenauer is a co-sponsor
of both HR 2835 (Medical Marijuana
Protection Act) and HR 2943(Personal
Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults
Act). “Now is the time to reassess our
nation’s policies” says Congressman
Blumenauer, emphasizing that
prohibition will not work.
The first day of panels included the panel,
“Pot Politics 2010 and Beyond”,
moderated by Keith Stroup, Esq., NORML
founder and Legal Counsel, and key
speakers were John Sajo and Chris
Conrad. John Sajo of Oregon Voter Power
spoke of the importance of using the
initiative process in order to see results
for marijuana legalization and Chris
Conrad spoke solely on PROP 19,
California’s Regulate, Control and Tax on
Cannabis Initiative that is on the
November ballot.
On Friday there were various panels
discussing topics such as marijuana
prohibition and California’s legalization
initiative (PROP 19), as well as the
NORML Women’s Alliance discussing
women, cannabis, and respect. The
luncheon was scheduled to include a
speech from Former New Mexico
Governor Gary Johnson. However, due to
flight delays, he was unable to arrive in
time. His speech was rescheduled for
Saturday morning.
The highlight of
the day was the
speech given by
best-selling
travel author and
Television host
Rick Steves, best
known for his
PBS series “Rick
Steves’ Europe”.
(Might I add, if
you haven’t seen
the show, you
should.) Steves
began by explaining why he is in the fight
to decriminalize marijuana and shared
that “being high is a place, and there is no
good reason for the government to say I
can’t go there”.
Steves believes that recreational use of
marijuana by responsible adults is a civil
liberty, and does not believe that
marijuana should be used by children or
while driving. In his travels, Steves gains
new perspectives on how the United
States can learn and be inspired by
Europe, emphasizing the Netherlands,
where hard drugs are separated from soft
drugs (of which he believes marijuana to
be), and where marijuana is treated as a
medical issue, and not an issue of crime.
Oregonians have a unique opportunity to
vote yes on Measure 74 to establish
licensed and regulated medical marijuana
dispensaries. We can legalize an industry
designed to finally help all patients access
medicine. Very little opposition has come
forward, but the media’s “coverage” does a
fine job of confusing and frightening
voters into voting against their best
interests.
The anti-medical marijuana media’s
central argument against M 74 is that the
medical marijuana program has been
corrupted beyond recognition and will
legalize marijuana. This argument was
echoed by the two people that have come
forward to be the opposition to nonprofit
dispensaries, Sheriff Tom Bergan and
District Attorney Josh Marquis both of
Clatsop County. They argue that medical
marijuana has been corrupted beyond all
recognition. Strangely enough,
September 3rd, 2010 the Associated Press
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4
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Cont. on Page 7
NORML Says
“Just Say Now!”
in Portland
By Justin and Jaime Jenkins,
Oregon Cannabis Connection
Oregon Media’s
Reefer Madness
By Sarah Duff
Institute for Cannabis Therapeutics
& Oregon Green Free
Cont. on Page 11
The beautiful old Governor
Hotel in Portland.
The conference used most
of the facilities at the hotel.
Congressman Blumenauer
is one of the few
Congressmen to come out
in support of marijuana
legalization
Rick Steves has long
been a supporter of
marijuana legalization,
and is a board member
of NORML.
In July of 2009, Willamette Weekly ran a
story called “Legalize It” that discussed
the various views of those involved with
our political system. Among the pro-
legalization politicians, Representative
Peter Buckley (D- Ashland) expressed
support for legalization. “I’ve got to use
my time and energy on proposals that I
think have a sincere ability to get through
the Legislature,” Buckley says. “And I
don’t think this would.”
Apparently things
have changed with
California voting on
legalization and
Oregon voting to
expand medical
access through
dispensaries in
November, and
Buckley has decided
to place a
legalization
initiative before the
legislature. This
news was shared by Russ Belville on the
NORML Show Live on Wednesday,
September 22, who said Madeline
Martinez, Executive Director of Oregon
NORML, had called just that morning to
tell him.
I contacted Representative Buckley on the
23rd to confirm the news and find out
more about the framework he had in
mind. When I inquired if the
rumor was true, he happily
stated that it was true. He
stated that he was
watching California
closely to see what
happens there, but said
that he anticipated the
bill going before the
legislature in February
for hearings.
I asked if he had a
particular framework in
mind, and was pleasantly
surprised to hear that he was
using the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act
as a starting framework, because he felt
that it was a “good proposal.” I had
emailed Representative Buckley a letter
urging support for the Oregon Cannabis
Tax Act back in June; and while often it
seems our legislature doesn’t “hear” us,
this seemed to show that our letters and
emails do matter.
I asked him if he had any potential co-
sponsors yet or knew of any other
legislative officials that were likely to be
supportive of the bill, and he stated that
he knew that there were several others
that would be supportive, but didn’t have
any particular names readily available.
He pointed me back to the Willamette
Weekly article “Legalize It” and stated
that he knew that there were a few
mentioned in that article. He said that
with budget concerns and “the desire to
make progress on this” – he felt that the
OCTA was a good proposal for the
legislature to consider.
I informed him that I was aware of some
concerns with the framework expressed
when I was petitioning for the OCTA
2010, and asked him what would be the
best method for other citizens to share
their suggestions, improvements and
concerns, and he said to please send him
an email at [email protected].
I strongly advise all advocates of
marijuana reform in Oregon to start
sending their suggestions, concerns and
kudos to Representative Buckley for
consideration in the upcoming
legislature.
Activists should also
continue to monitor the
citizens’ initiative
process, where Paul
Stanford is
reintroducing the
Oregon Cannabis
Tax Act with some
changes for 2012.
Among the changes
included in the 2012
version:
The clause that defined a
corporation as a “person” in addition to a
private individual was removed. The
Oregon Cannabis Control Commission
(OCCC) was renamed the Oregon
Cannabis Commission (OCC), and
clarification on how it will be formed was
added.
Stanford is currently working on the 1000
sponsorship signatures, and finalizing the
paperwork to begin circulating petitions.
Progress can be monitored via the website
www.cannabistaxact.org or at the
Secretary of State’s website.
Jennifer Alexander is a current Oregon
Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP)
cardholder, and is on the Board of
Director's for Oregon NORML
Concerns concerning the medical value of
cannabis were continually raised by some
panelists and all of the con advocates
throughout the review, which took focus
off the real questions of the measure.
Mary Lynn Mathre R.N., Sunil Aggarwal
M.D., and others repeatedly explained
that medical marijuana is now accepted
widely, even the Veterans Administration
(V.A.) and the American Medical
Association (AMA) are changing their
longheld views against its medical value.
Mathre explained how another
independent medical association, the
Intstitue of Medicine (IOM), published a
report clear back in 1999 . She said
“Their findings were that it does have
medical value, it is safe for medical use,
it's not highly addictive, it isn't a gateway
drug.” Due to the age of the report, she
also explains, "That's old science, we
know so much more”.
The con advocates presentations were
mostly based on personal experiences,
conjecture, and focused on the
effectiveness of cannabis and the "true"
intent of the measure. District Attorney
Josh Marquis made a number of points
which seemed straight from the Law
enforcement playbook, such as "Do you
really believe that most people who smoke
marijuana are not smoking marijuana for
the psychoactive effects?" and "Would you
really feel comfortable knowing a person
driving an eighteen wheeler the other
way had their Medical marijuana?". He
did bring up a few valid concerns,
especially about employees of
dispensaries being able to possess large
amounts of cannabis, yet the rhetorical
statements overshadowed the logical
ones.
Even one of the absentee presenters for the
con advocates spent the majority of her
time questioning the effectiveness of
cannabis. Dr. Andrea Barthwell M.D., a
longtime opponent of medical cannabis,
spoke by phone from California.
Barthwell, refering to a 20 year old AMA
study, said "The only area where
marijuana showed greater promise than
anything that was currently approved by
the FDA and available to physicians was
nausea and vomiting", disregarding the
AMA's recent change of policy regarding
medical cannabis.
When all the presentations and testimony
was given, the panel reviewed the
information and debated the points.
Eventually the panel decided to support
M74. Their ballot statement will appear in
the voter's pamphlet, along with many
others. You can watch the CIR
presentations and much of the panelists
debate at the HDO website
http://cirarchive.org.
I believe the CIR panel is a good way to get
voters involved and produce informative
ballot statements that go beyond the usual
rhetoric.
O
O
r
r
e
e
g
g
o
o
n
n
N
N
e
e
w
w
s
s
C
C
a
a
n
n
n
n
a
a
b
b
i
i
s
s
C
C
o
o
n
n
n
n
e
e
c
c
t
t
i
i
o
o
n
n
P
P
a
a
g
g
e
e
5
5
Grow Better With Our Cultivation Tips!
Representative Peter Buckley Will Introduce Legalization Bill to Legislature
Cont from page 3
By Jennifer Alexander
Oregon NORML from
Salem-News.com
CIR Backs M74
One of the Pro Advocate Panels with (L to R)
John Sajo, Don Duncan, Sunil Aggarwal, and
Greg Barton