An Amsterdam-Style Pot Bar Is the Latest Controversy in Oregon's Marijuana World. For Mario Mamone, the dream of opening a marijuana cafe started 10 years ago on his first trip to Amsterdam, where he visited famous hash bars like Green House and Dampkring. Now the 62-year-old retired wildlife biologist is close to bringing his vision to Gladstone. Next month he plans to open the Maritime Cafe in a Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard strip mall, between a Curves Fitness Center and a headshop called the Stash. The cafe will be open only to medical-marijuana patients over 18. Plans by Mamone and his partner, Tim Welsh, include intimate booths, potleaf murals and killer buds for $10 a gram. [continues 698 words]
One Cop Shop's Prostitution Sting: Phony Ads on Craigslist of Hot Women Offering Sex for Weed. Early one April morning, Shawn Walsh hopped online in his one-bedroom apartment in Oregon City and turned to the Casual Encounters section on craigslist.org. Casual Encounters has done for sex what bathhouses and swingers' parties used to do--made it convenient, available and anonymous. Walsh uses Craigslist because, frankly, he wouldn't have much luck scoring at a club in Old Town, or even at a bar in Oregon City. [continues 2862 words]
Portland grower sweeps the Oregon Medical Cannabis Awards with "Lemon Pledge," "Train Wreck" and "Dynamite." A very mellow gathering of 100 medical-marijuana users got some delicious news at the seventh annual Oregon Medical Cannabis Awards on Saturday night. Apparently, the weed keeps getting better and better," announced Russ Belville, associate director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws' Oregon branch. Belville based his statement on the scores this year's 27 entries received from a lucky pool of 28 judges who are medical marijuana patients. Each judge got a gram of each type to sample over six weeks, and rate on appearance, taste, aroma, potency, smoothness and medicinal effect. [continues 443 words]
The Fight Over Medical Marijuana At Work Is On-Again. A corporate lawyer is reigniting a four-year legislative battle to stomp out thousands of Oregon medical marijuana users in the workplace. And cannabis advocates fear this time they'll finally lose the fight. Dan Harmon, vice chairman of Associated Oregon Industries, has been touring the state telling business leaders and policy makers he'll push the 2009 Legislature to allow employers to fire medical marijuana users-even if they toke only at home. [continues 639 words]
The Democratic Presidential frontrunner talks timber payments, Gordon Smith and of course tattoos. Sen. Barack Obama once remarked on the long odds of a "skinny guy from the South Side with a funny name" finding success in American politics. How much more improbable then that Oregon - an overwhelmingly white state 1,700 miles from his Chicago home - could finally put the Illinois senator over the top this Tuesday, May 20, in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. The Obama campaign looks to that date as the day to finally declare victory over Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), after an anticipated Oregon win gives Obama a majority of pledged delegates nationwide. Little wonder then that Obama's third Oregon swing May 9-10 felt more like a victory lap than a campaign stop. In Beaverton, Albany, Eugene and Bend, Obama test-drove a new strategy of targeting Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and largely ignoring Clinton. [continues 766 words]
Reed College Is Exceptional for More Than Academics. It's One of America's Most Permissive Colleges for Experimenting With Drugs. ON A RECENT SATURDAY AFTERNOON in Southeast Portland, a mass of two dozen nudists, painted blue, were gathered at Reed College. They call themselves "Picters," after an ancient Scottish tribe, and they carried turkeys and other assorted meats for the feast that was about to ensue as hundreds of hungry students lined up. The breasts and genitals on display attracted no stares. Neither did the student nearby who took a hit off a footlong glass bong as gray-bearded alums walked by with their toddlers and teenagers in tow. [continues 3234 words]
Paul Stanford Is Oregon's "Drug Czar." Now He's Under Attack. Paul Stanford should be at the top of his game. After more than two decades growing, toking and agitating to legalize cannabis, the 47-year-old Portlander is now running the largest chain of medical-marijuana clinics in the nation. Stanford spends half his time jetting between home and Honolulu, Los Angeles, Denver and Seattle, visiting his clinics that have helped thousands gain medical-marijuana permits. His nonprofit, The Hemp & Cannabis (ahem, THC) Foundation, is on track to rake in $2 million this year. [continues 4019 words]
