Pubdate: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 Source: Daily Astorian, The (OR) Copyright: 2002 The Daily Astorian Contact: http://www.dailyastorian.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1629 Author: Jennifer Collins MARIJUANA PLANTS NEAR SCHOOL IRK PARENTS Medical Marijuana Act Does Not Specify If Plants Can Be Grown Near Schools JEWELL - Marijuana growing in the school parking lot may seem like every stoner's dream, but not in Jewell. The Clatsop County Interagency Narcotics Task Force seized 13 marijuana plants Wednesday from a house inside Jewell School's horseshoe-shaped parking lot. Mary and Larry Porter, who rent the house on Oregon Highway 103, still own seven plants and police can't do anything about it, detective Sgt. Tom Bergin said. "They're very cooperative people," Bergin said. "They just believe in a different philosophy than I do." Mary Porter, 43, has a caregiver's card to grow seven plants to aid Larry Porter, 56, who retired from the Air Force in 1971 and has a medical marijuana card. She said she always expects several plants to die because she is a notorious "brown thumb," so she planted more than the legal limit. Larry Porter said they have been approached by people wanting to buy their marijuana, but they refuse to sell it. "They said they could sell as much as we could produce," he said. "I tell them, 'You don't want to do that.'" Larry Porter contracted diabetes while transporting Agent Orange during the Vietnam War and contracted hepatitis C while hauling dead and wounded soldiers off the battlefield. The diabetes is now causing his bladder to fail and the hepatitis is causing sclerosis of the liver. He also suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome. Porter said the marijuana allows him to maintain his quality of life despite numerous prescription drug interactions. "I don't do well on narcotics, so I do this instead," he said. The Porters have grown the plants for two years, but Larry Porter said this is the first year the plants have produced anything. They harvested three plants shortly before the police confiscated them along with 10 plants. Bergin said the task force is asking a judge to call a grand jury to decide whether to indict the Porters for their extra plants. About 3,600 people have a medical card to grow in Oregon, said Michelle Aarhus of the Medical Marijuana Office at the Oregon Department of Human Services. Bergin said several have licenses in Jewell, but he couldn't remember ever busting a medical operation that was illegal. Although drug manufacture and distribution is prohibited within 1,000 feet of a school, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act doesn't specify the distance from a school, Aarhus said. When school started in September, students began to notice the plants inside the Porter's yard, which is surrounded by a five-foot fence, said 14-year-old Kane Degerstedt. "People talked about jumping the fence," Kane said. "I heard rumors kids almost got bit by their dog." Kane said he also heard rumors a schoolmate had stolen a top off the plant about two weeks ago, but Mary Porter said she never lost any parts of the plants. "We have all our gates locked and we have a 7-year-old rottweiler," Mary Porter said. "It would be impossible to get in." Kane Degerstedt's mother, Tia, said she's worried about the curiosity sparked in the teenage students. "I'm not necessarily against medical marijuana," Tia Degerstedt said. "I'm just against it being under my kids' noses. There should be a law that it's a least 600 feet from the school." The fence has gaps between the boards, less than a quarter-inch, and Tia Degerstedt said she peered through the boards and could see the plants, but said she never spoke with the Porters. "I feel uncomfortable walking up to their door and talking," she said. But Mary Porter said she's told her landlord about the medical marijuana plants and feels she's been honest about the operation. The Porters moved to Jewell from Milwaukee June 1 with nine plants - two more than the legal limit. Bergin said police first contacted the Porters July 15 because of some complaints and told them to destroy two of their nine plants. All but four of the plants died when they were housed in a shed with high humidity. The plants cost about $1,500 each and Mary Porter said she moved them outside to keep them alive. "I figured they would comply, instead they doubled their operation," Bergin said. Bergin said he noticed the plants outside when he flew over the area Aug. 6. The Medical Marijuana Act, implemented in 1999, prohibits the growth within "public view" or view from the road, Bergin said. The plants are not visible from the road and Mary Porter said they never were within two inches of the fence. Superintendent John Seeley said he never noticed the plants, but heard complaints from parents and children. "I went over and I met with her and she was pretty upfront about it," Seeley said. While the house may look like it belongs to the school, Seeley said it belongs to private renters so the school can't do anything about it. The Porters had about 20 plants when Bergin and members of the task force visited them Wednesday. Mary Porter said she has an appointment to get a medical marijuana card for herself. "When you live with someone with (post-traumatic stress syndrome), you get PTSD," she said, adding she also suffers from tendonitis. Mary Porter added the medical marijuana plants have different levels and types of the drug THC than the kind that will "get you loaded." The Porters are building a cedar shed to house the plant. Six are grown under lamps in a shed and one grows outside behind 10-foot-boards. They have painted and repaired the house on their fixed income of disability benefits, veterans' benefits and Social Security. When the Porters moved into the house, Mary Porter said she threw out drug paraphernalia and condoms left over at what was rumored to be a "party house." - --- MAP posted-by: Alex