SmokeDog420
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Salem, Ore. -- A measure on Oregon's Nov. 2 ballot to expand the medical use of marijuana is drawing fire from state district attorneys and the White House drug czar, who says it would turn the state into a "safe haven for drug trafficking."
Measure 33 would make it easier for ailing people to obtain marijuana and allow them to possess more of it -- up to a pound at a time. It also requires that indigent patients be given free marijuana.
But White House drug czar John Walters, echoing criticism by Oregon's district attorneys, calls Measure 33 a fraud on Oregon voters and a back door attempt to legalize marijuana.
"People are being played for suckers," Walters said in an interview from Washington, D.C. "Their compassion for sick people is being used to do something that's destructive for the state."
Proponents say, however, that Oregon's current program is too restrictive and that Oregonians already have shown they support allowing ill people to have the drug by overwhelmingly approving the 1998 law.
The chief petitioner for the measure is John Sajo, a longtime marijuana activist who sponsored an unsuccessful 1986 ballot measure to legalize marijuana. But he said that isn't the issue in Measure 33.
"Our opponents don't have any good arguments against medical marijuana, so they call this a legalization measure. That is nonsense," Sajo said.
Measure 33 would represent a significant expansion of Oregon's medical marijuana program, which was approved by the state's voters in November 1998. Oregon is among nine states with medical marijuana laws. The others are Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada and Washington state.
Under Oregon's current law, qualified patients are allowed to grow and use small amounts of marijuana without fear of prosecution as long as a doctor says it might help their condition.
The measure on the Nov. 2 ballot would create state-regulated dispensaries authorized to supply up to 6 pounds of marijuana per year to qualified patients, although they could possess only 1 pound at any given time.
The current possession limit is 3 ounces, an amount that advocates say is too low and often leaves patients scrambling to find enough marijuana to ease their suffering.
The initiative also would expand the number of health care professionals who can recommend marijuana for their patients. Right now only physicians and osteopaths can do that; the measure would give licensed naturopaths and nurse practitioners that authority as well.
The Oregon District Attorneys Association opposes Measure 33 mainly because of the provision allowing patients to possess 6 pounds of marijuana a year plus 10 mature plants. That would give patients enough pot to smoke a joint every hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, said Benton County District Attorney Scott Heiser.
The Oregon Medical Association, representing more than 7,000 physicians statewide, has paid for a page in the state Voters' Pamphlet to urge Oregonians to vote "no" on Measure 33.
Source: Associated Press
Author: Brad Cain, Associated Press Writer
Published: Saturday, September 11, 2004
Copyright: 2004 The Associated Press
Measure 33 would make it easier for ailing people to obtain marijuana and allow them to possess more of it -- up to a pound at a time. It also requires that indigent patients be given free marijuana.
But White House drug czar John Walters, echoing criticism by Oregon's district attorneys, calls Measure 33 a fraud on Oregon voters and a back door attempt to legalize marijuana.
"People are being played for suckers," Walters said in an interview from Washington, D.C. "Their compassion for sick people is being used to do something that's destructive for the state."
Proponents say, however, that Oregon's current program is too restrictive and that Oregonians already have shown they support allowing ill people to have the drug by overwhelmingly approving the 1998 law.
The chief petitioner for the measure is John Sajo, a longtime marijuana activist who sponsored an unsuccessful 1986 ballot measure to legalize marijuana. But he said that isn't the issue in Measure 33.
"Our opponents don't have any good arguments against medical marijuana, so they call this a legalization measure. That is nonsense," Sajo said.
Measure 33 would represent a significant expansion of Oregon's medical marijuana program, which was approved by the state's voters in November 1998. Oregon is among nine states with medical marijuana laws. The others are Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada and Washington state.
Under Oregon's current law, qualified patients are allowed to grow and use small amounts of marijuana without fear of prosecution as long as a doctor says it might help their condition.
The measure on the Nov. 2 ballot would create state-regulated dispensaries authorized to supply up to 6 pounds of marijuana per year to qualified patients, although they could possess only 1 pound at any given time.
The current possession limit is 3 ounces, an amount that advocates say is too low and often leaves patients scrambling to find enough marijuana to ease their suffering.
The initiative also would expand the number of health care professionals who can recommend marijuana for their patients. Right now only physicians and osteopaths can do that; the measure would give licensed naturopaths and nurse practitioners that authority as well.
The Oregon District Attorneys Association opposes Measure 33 mainly because of the provision allowing patients to possess 6 pounds of marijuana a year plus 10 mature plants. That would give patients enough pot to smoke a joint every hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, said Benton County District Attorney Scott Heiser.
The Oregon Medical Association, representing more than 7,000 physicians statewide, has paid for a page in the state Voters' Pamphlet to urge Oregonians to vote "no" on Measure 33.
Source: Associated Press
Author: Brad Cain, Associated Press Writer
Published: Saturday, September 11, 2004
Copyright: 2004 The Associated Press
