A Colorado Court Rules That Businesses Can Fire Employees WHO Use Marijuana During Their Off-Time. The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that businesses can fire employees who use marijuana during their off-time, including those with a legal prescription for medical pot. In a case that has been closely watched by employers in some states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal or recreational use, the Colorado court found that Dish Network lawfully fired a quadriplegic employee and medical marijuana user who failed a drug test. Customer service representative Brandon Coats, 35, used marijuana in his offtime to deal with painful muscle spasms. [continues 868 words]
Measure 91 Sets Up Clash With State Cities' Maneuver to Curb Dispensaries PORTLAND (AP) - Cities scrambled to pass taxes on marijuana before a legalization measure went before voters. Their bet: That the taxes would get grandfathered in. But Measure 91, passed by voters Nov. 4, has a clause forbidding any taxation on marijuana except by the state. Now, those cities say they are prepared to defend their taxes in court. Attorney Dave Kopilak helped draft the law and is studying the response. Ashland City Manager Dave Kanner was one of the first to propose such a tax, which passed in Ashland this year. [continues 702 words]
Rick Steves smokes the occasional joint, but he's not arguing for marijuana legalization in Oregon just because he likes to get high. Steves, a nationally known guidebook author and host on public radio and television, said Tuesday he's convinced that marijuana prohibition in the U.S. operates solely to harm the poor and people of color, and to profit off their punishment. "It's not guys like me, rich white guys, who need it," Steves said Tuesday at a downtown Portland hotel. "It's the people who are arrested and cited, who are poor." [continues 305 words]
PORTLAND, Ore. - Rick Steves smokes the occasional joint, but he's not arguing for marijuana legalization in Oregon just because he likes to get high. Steves, a nationally known guidebook author and host on public radio and television, said Tuesday he's convinced that marijuana prohibition in the U.S. operates solely to harm the poor and people of color, and to profit off their punishment. "It's not guys like me, rich white guys, who need it," Steves said Tuesday at a downtown Portland hotel. "It's the people who are arrested and cited, who are poor." [continues 417 words]
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Rick Steves smokes the occasional joint, but he's not arguing for marijuana legalization in Oregon just because he likes to get high. Steves, a nationally known guidebook author and host on public radio and television, said Tuesday he's convinced that marijuana prohibition in the U.S. operates solely to harm the poor and people of color, and to profit off their punishment. "It's not guys like me, rich white guys, who need it," Steves said Tuesday at a downtown Portland hotel. "It's the people who are arrested and cited, who are poor." [continues 416 words]
PORTLAND - In the months before a marijuana-legalization measure goes before voters, the leadership of Oregon's largest agencies quietly convened high-level meetings to discuss how to deal with it. The legalization measure would touch every corner of state government, from the Oregon State Police, who would no longer make minor marijuana arrests, to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which would administer the program. "They're trying to not get caught flat-footed," said commission spokeswoman Christie Scott. The agencies in attendance were the liquor-control commission, the state police, the agriculture, revenue, transportation and justice departments, and the Oregon Health Authority. [continues 485 words]
PORTLAND (AP) - Oregon officials are only months away from accepting applications for the state's first medical-marijuana dispensaries under a new law. But local leaders who want to keep pot shops out of their communities are ready for a fight. In Myrtle Creek, the police chief and mayor both oppose dispensaries within city limits. And in Medford, the City Council made a rule change to say that business licenses could be revoked for violating the federal prohibition on the drug. There's no way "to prevent the wholesale distribution of marijuana through dispensaries," said Medford City Councilman Chris Corcoran. [continues 498 words]
Drug Trafficking More Dangerous, She Says PORTLAND -- The proliferation of dispensary-style medical marijuana operations in Oregon concerns the state's new U.S. Attorney, but she said she's unwilling to devote much time or money to prosecuting a criminal activity that's low on her list of priorities. U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall said the number of dispensaries in Oregon has been growing. Her office estimates the state hosts at least 100, most of which are in the Portland metro area. [continues 549 words]
Portland, Ore. -- Paul Stanford had lived a life of error, missteps and regrets, one laden with betrayals and failure. Then, on Nov. 3, 1998, Oregon voters approved the medicinal use of marijuana. And in this way he was saved. Paul Stanford's business is medical marijuana, and he is the nation's leading gateway to the drug. In California, Oregon, Hawaii and three other states where it's legal, he charges a small fee for access to friendly doctors. People walk in as customers and leave, mostly, as patients. [continues 2234 words]
PORTLAND, Ore) Paul Stanford had lived a life of error, missteps and regrets, one laden with betrayals and failure. Then, on Nov. 3, 1998, Oregon voters approved the medicinal use of marijuana. And in this way he was saved. Stanford's business is medical marijuana, and he is the nation's leading gateway to the drug. In Oregon, Hawaii, Michigan and three other states where it's legal, he charges a small fee for access to sympathetic doctors. People walk in as customers and leave, mostly, as patients. [continues 1499 words]
A drug-interdiction program devastated by funding cuts could be saved by a group of U.S. senators from both sides of the aisle who announced plans on Wednesday to tack on money to the federal omnibus spending bill. U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, along with four other senators, announced plans to replace money cut from the federal Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program as part of an emergency supplemental funding bill. They would return $660 million to the program, which was cut to $170 million in December by the Bush administration. [continues 432 words]
Proposed cuts in a key federal drug-enforcement program threaten efforts in Iowa just as the state has shown progress in the fight against methamphetamine, officials say. The U.S. Justice Department, which filters money to local law enforcement through the Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, could cut 70 percent from the $4.22 million that came to Iowa this year. Iowa politicians say they will fight the cuts, but all sides agree that the proposed cuts reflect a shift in national priorities toward the war on terrorism. [continues 864 words]
