Pubdate: Tue, 24 Nov 2009
Source: USA Today (US)
Page: 4A
Copyright: 2009 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc
Contact:  http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/index.htm
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/466
Author: Tracy Loew, USA TODAY
Cited: Oregon NORML http://www.ornorml.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/NORML (NORML)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Madeline+Martinez
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Kevin+Mannix

MEDICAL MARIJUANA ON TAP AT OREGON CAFE

A Legal Place to Socialize, Medicate

PORTLAND, Ore. -- At first glance, the Cannabis Cafe, in a former 
adult club called Rumpspankers, looks like any other coffee shop. 
Customers sip coffee while playing cards, working on computers or 
sharing a meal.

It's also where people approved to use marijuana for medical purposes 
can smoke joints and pipes, or use a vaporizer that collects 
marijuana fumes for inhaling.

It's all legal, and for cancer patient Albert Santistevan, 56, it's 
about time. "It's a very positive atmosphere. We could use more 
places like that," the former jewelry shop owner says.

A few weeks ago, Santistevan would have had no public place to go. 
But after the Obama administration's decision last month to soften 
the federal stance on medical marijuana, the Cannabis Cafe and a 
smaller lounge across town -- called Highway 420, a number pot users 
have used as code for marijuana -- opened.

"It's nice to be around people who understand your medicine," says 
Madeline Martinez, executive director of the Oregon chapter of 
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), which 
operates and monitors the cafe. "Many times we're deemed as criminals 
rather than patients."

Fourteen states allow cannabis to be cultivated and used for medical 
reasons, and Maine this month became the fifth to allow retail pot 
dispensaries, joining California, Colorado, New Mexico and Rhode 
Island, NORML says.

Only Oregon has a place where any medical marijuana cardholder can 
socialize and use free, over-the-counter cannabis.

"It really is a revolutionary model in that the cannabis isn't being 
bought and sold," says Russ Belville, national outreach coordinator for NORML.

No marijuana is sold in the cafe. Oregon law prohibits the sale of 
marijuana, although it can be exchanged among medical marijuana 
cardholders. Patients bring marijuana grown by themselves or by their 
designated caregivers. They also donate marijuana for other patrons to use.

Portland police say they have not received any complaints about the 
cafe, and it is not under any special scrutiny.

Jan Clutter, who lives near the cafe, said neighbors would probably 
prefer the establishment be located elsewhere, but there has been no 
push to have it moved.

"It's better than having a sex club, a strip joint or a bar full of 
drunks open down the street," neighbor Claudia Nix says.

Oregon Anti-Crime Alliance President Kevin Mannix says he wishes 
there had been more public discussion about the cafe before it opened.

"I'm not going to cast judgment on whether or not there should be a 
cafe," Mannix says. "But I do think legislative policymakers need to 
take a good, hard look at where we are headed."

To get a medical marijuana card, state law requires residents have a 
doctor's statement certifying that they have a qualifying medical 
condition, such as cancer, glaucoma or muscle spasms.

Jim Hickam, 58, a small-business owner from Independence, Ore., says 
he got a medical marijuana card after a back injury left him 
dependent on painkillers. He says he's now off prescription drugs and 
able to work again.

"It's really a nice place to hang out. It's real mellow," says 
Hickham, who attended the Cannabis Cafe opening Nov. 13.

The state says about 23,900 Oregonians hold medical marijuana cards.

Martinez says the group chose Portland for the pot lounge because the 
city's mayor and police chief signed an executive order in 2007 
prohibiting police from assisting with investigations or prosecutions 
of people acting under the state's medical marijuana act. Federal law 
still prohibits growing, possessing, distributing and smoking marijuana.

To enter the cafe, people must have a NORML membership and show their 
state medical marijuana card, Martinez says. Patients pay a $5 
coverage charge at the door that goes toward operating costs. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake