Advocates want more of the funds to go toward patients As the number of medical-marijuana patients continues to rise in Oregon, the accompanying licensing fees have generated a substantial budget surplus.

The Oregon Medical Marijuana Program reported a surplus of about $986,000 by the end of March.

The patient-registration program was created after the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act took effect in 1998. The program started without state funding in 1999 and has operated solely on patient fees.

More than 10,000 patients are registered. Estimates for the program's first years were between 500 and 1,000 participants.

[continues 382 words]

More Than 10,000 Oregonians Have Cards To Let Them Use The Drug

[ Picture: Shawn Flury walks through his marijuana garden Wednesday as he tends to the plants. "It doesn't cost that much, $25 a plant and then we give it away for free. It's a constant job taking care of them," said Flury, who is director of Oregon Green Cross. The agency provides marijuana to 35 indigent patients each month.]

Morphine, Vicodin, carbitrol - 18 pills on even-numbered days, 17 on odd ones, for almost 10 years.

[continues 1310 words]

One Side Sees Criminals; the Other Sees Pained Patients

Consensus talks recently broke down between medical-marijuana advocates and statewide law enforcement, setting up a potential voting-season battle this fall.

The latter said they withdrew after it became clear that no consensus would be reached on the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act.

Benton County District Attorney Scott Heiser, representing law enforcement, said some medical-marijuana advocates were "driven by a desire to legalize the drug using the medical-marijuana act to try and advance their 'cause.'"

[continues 1047 words]