Pubdate: Sat, 22 Sep 2012 Source: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR) Copyright: 2012 The Oregonian Contact: http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/324 Author: Noelle Crombie RECRUITING MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS FOR PROFIT Federal agents searching Robert Hisamoto's Lincoln Navigator last year found handwritten pages detailing how productive -- and profitable -- Oregon medical marijuana can be. According to an affidavit supporting Hisamoto's arrest, one page showed drawings of plants, each producing from 1.5 to six pounds of processed marijuana. The other listed what looked like drug transactions: 13.5 pounds of pot multiplied by $2,200 equals $29,700; 10.4 pounds times $2,300 a pound equals $23,920; 8.25 pounds times $2,300 equals $18,975. Hisamoto, a registered caregiver for 30 medical marijuana patients, was allowed to possess 45 pounds of pot under Oregon's medical marijuana law. But by the time the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration wrapped up its raids at his Jackson County properties, they'd found 233 pounds of marijuana with an estimated wholesale value of $535,900. The government's case against the 42-year-old Ashland man, as outlined in an extensive court filing, offers a look at what some medical marijuana advocates disparagingly call "card stacking." Hisamoto, federal authorities say, recruited medical marijuana cardholders specifically to boost the amount of pot he could produce. Hisamoto declined to comment on the case, except to say, "These are not true allegations." Three of his alleged associates also are accused of federal drug crimes in the operation. The enterprise is one of eight large-scale Oregon medical marijuana operations targeted by federal authorities in the past year. The most recent federal raid came Tuesday, when agents swooped in on the southern Oregon farm of James Bowman, a medical marijuana grower, caregiver and patient, and an outspoken marijuana advocate. Bowman has not been charged with a crime. Authorities said the raids are part of a drug manufacturing and distribution investigation. Over-production -- churning out more pot than patients are allowed to have by law -- is at the heart of virtually all federal marijuana prosecutions in Oregon, said Amanda Marshall, the U.S. Attorney for Oregon. The prospect of large medical marijuana operations wasn't on the minds of Oregon voters who approved the law 14 years ago, Marshall said. "Everyone is thinking plants in a window box in a sick person's house, or in their relative or neighbor's house," she said. Don Morse, co-director of the Human Collective, a Washington County medical marijuana dispensary, acknowledged some people exploit the program for profit. "But that does not mean the medical marijuana program is bad," said Morse. "It means it needs to be refined." Morse said he supports the licensing and inspection of large-scale marijuana grow sites; currently grow sites are not subject to such regulation. "The people who are working the system have nothing to do with patients," he said. The recent federal cases included a Jackson County grow operation where authorities seized 456 plants and more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana -- all grown under the Oregon medical marijuana program. Federal agents ripped towering plants from a field about four acres in size. Authorities found a bill counter, two industrial machines that process marijuana and a guard tower overlooking the expansive site. At Hisamoto's properties, agents found a marijuana-processing machine and a barn where a handwritten poster reminded workers to work with a sense of urgency. "Label all bags," the list instructed. "Smoke only what you bring yourself. No back packs or containers. Only your work clothes or naked!" Hisamoto, who runs a martial arts studio in Medford, allegedly recruited people to be medical marijuana growers, some of whom could not identify their patients when pressed by federal agents. Hisamoto also allegedly recruited people to be patients, completing their state applications and paying their registration fees, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Medford. One patient told agents she didn't know Hisamoto had listed himself as her caregiver. The law says caregivers have "significant responsibility" for a patient's well being. Caregivers are allowed to possess 1.5 pounds of marijuana for each patient in their care and are allowed to take on an unlimited number of patients. Although the number of patients under Hisamoto's care was at the high end, caregivers serving multiple patients are common. The Oregonian analyzed the state medical marijuana patient database -- stripped of patient names -- and found 81 caregivers with five or more patients. The analysis found the top caregiver in the state had 88 patients, allowing him to legally possess 132 pounds of medical marijuana. Hisamoto's patients told federal agents the marijuana they received was small in quantity or poor in quality. One told a federal agent that her arrangement with Hisamoto was "a big scam." A patient, identified only by her initials, M.H., said she wasn't much of a marijuana user but agreed to become one of Hisamoto's patients. He "took care of the OMMP paperwork" and paid the fee for her patient card. "Hisamoto told M.H. that he did not have any marijuana for M.H. in 2010 ... because he had been ripped off," U.S. DEA Special Agent Ronald Wright wrote in the complaint. Wright wrote: "Hisamoto told M.H. he was going to make a lot of money by selling the marijuana and would eventually pay M.H. for her involvement." Hisamoto is scheduled for trial in November. - --- Betsy Hammond of The Oregonian staff and researcher Lynne Palombo contributed to this report. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom