Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jun 2013
Source: Albany Democrat-Herald (OR)
Copyright: 2013 Lee Enterprises
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/HPOp5PfB
Website: http://www.democratherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/7

MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL CAN BE FIXED

Law enforcement officers this week raised some legitimate concerns
about a bill, passed earlier by the Oregon House of Representatives,
to legalize medical marijuana dispensaries.

Some of the concerns are worth considering as the Senate takes up the
bill, House Bill 3460, and could easily be fixed, even as the session
winds into its final days.

Under current law, Oregon's nearly 55,000 medical marijuana
cardholders must grow the pot themselves or find a person to grow it
for them. House Bill 3460 would give cardholders another option:
purchasing their medicine from state-regulated medical marijuana outlets.

The bill passed the House by a surprisingly narrow 31-27 vote on
Monday. Albany Rep. Andy Olson, who has long been concerned with what
he sees as abuses in the medical marijuana program, helped to lead the
opposition.

It could be that the narrow vote helped persuade prosecutors and other
law officers that it might be worth lobbying for changes to the bill
or possibly even killing it and taking another run at the issue during
the 2014 session. Olson said his preference would be to hold off until
2014.

Our bottom line on this issue, however, continues to be this: Oregon
took the main step on this issue in 1998, when voters approved a
measure to legalize medical marijuana. If something is legal to use,
it's not unreasonable to authorize places where it may be sold, and
that's what House Bill 3460 does.

There is time enough, even in the waning days of the session, to fix
some of the key problems law officers have with the measure: For
starters, the bill as now written allows people convicted of certain
drug felonies outside of the state to operate a medical marijuana
facility. That shouldn't be allowed.

Some of Olson's concerns can be addressed in the 2014 session. In
particular, as he has told us in the past, he suggests mandating that
medical marijuana patients under the age of 18 get screened twice a
year by a pediatrician to assess the value and necessity of the
marijuana. He also suggests removing the loophole in the law that
allows nonresidents to obtain an Oregon medical marijuana card. Both
of those reforms seem sensible.

And, of course, hanging over this entire picture is the increasing
likelihood that Oregon voters will again get a chance, possibly as
early as November 2014, to weigh in on a measure to legalize
recreational use of marijuana. But that potential game-changer doesn't
mean that we can't take steps now to improve and streamline our
medical marijuana system.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt