STATE LIKELY TO SIPHON MEDICAL POT FEES

Oregon Backers of Medical Marijuana Say Its Surplus Should Be Poured Back
into the Program, Not Human Services

SALEM -- Lawmakers scrounging to balance the state Department of Human
Services' current budget have found a pot of money in the Oregon marijuana
program.

Nobody expected that the program -- or its reserve account -- would grow so
fast when it started six years ago. Today there are more than 10,400
patients registered with the program, and the fees they paid have produced
a $1.1-million surplus.

Last week the House voted, 49-10, to use $900,000 of that money to pay for
other Human Services' needs. The budget measure, House Bill 5077, also
moves money from other surplus accounts, including a $3.2-million surplus
in an HIV drug program. The bill goes to the Senate where it is expected to
pass.

Human Services was faced with a difficult choice: cut services or tap these
surplus accounts, Barry Kast, the agency's assistant director for health
services, said Friday.

"The department, after three years of cuts and cuts and cuts, has run out
of options," he said.

In a $9.3-billion agency budget, $900,000 amounts to little more than a
footnote. But it means a lot to the supporters of the marijuana program,
who say their money should be used to make the program work better.

For example, the state's Office of Medical Marijuana has talked with
law-enforcement agencies about establishing an around-the-clock system
allowing police to verify that a person is registered in the program.
Currently, verification can be done only on weekdays during business hours.

Longer-term, marijuana program supporters worry that the $900,000 transfer
would lead to higher costs for many people who are struggling to get by.

To qualify for the Oregon medical-marijuana program, patients must have a
doctor's verification of a "debilitating medical condition" such as cancer,
glaucoma or AIDS, or a symptom such as nausea or severe pain. Participants
are also required to pay an annual fee to the state.

"If any of this money came from the general fund, I'd agree that some of it
should be transferred back. But the medical-marijuana program never cost
the taxpayers a dime," said Dr. Rick Bayer, a physician who was chief
petitioner of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act passed by voters in 1998.

Anticipating that 500 to 1,000 people would sign up in the first year,
Bayer said he and others agreed on a $150 registration fee to ensure the
program could cover its costs.

When it became clear that the program was far more popular -- and lucrative
- -- Human Services reduced the fees in 2003 and again in January.

Currently, participants pay $55 for an initial application or annual
renewal. Oregon Health Plan patients pay $20.

"The idea was, over a two-or three-year period, to slowly reduce that
excess fund where we'd have enough to keep the program operational and not
have a huge balance," said Ron Prinslow, interim section manager for the
state Office of Medical Marijuana.

If the cash surplus disappears, Prinslow said, there likely would be a fee
increase, possibly sooner than expected.

Trista Okel, a 31-year-old Salem woman who suffers from chronic pain and
nausea, says it's already difficult for her to scrape together her $55
renewal fee due next month.

"It's a hardship for a lot of folks," she said.

Sen. Bill Morrisette, D-Springfield, said he's trying to persuade his
colleagues to leave some money in the marijuana surplus to pay for program
improvements he's proposing in legislation this session.

But Rep. Dennis Richardson, R-Central Point, said that when dealing with
the challenge of paying for health and human services "There's always a
give and take."