PATIENTS PUSH MARIJUANA REFORM

Although Sally Younger has been a medical marijuana patient for the past
three years, she still puts up with pain.

It's not by choice.

Her former caregivers, who legally grew her marijuana, proved unreliable.
And her $554 monthly disability check didn't go far when the street price
of marijuana ran $40 for a two-to three-day supply.

So she grows it at home, spending an hour a day tending to the plants even
when she feels bad.

Three years since the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, or OMMA took effect,
card-carrying patients such as Younger say the law is working, but needs
improvement.

"It's just not as fine tuned as it should be," said Younger, a 43-year-old
Salem resident who suffers from fibromyalgia, a complex of symptoms that
leaves the afflicted feeling bodywide pain. "It's a fantastic program, but
there's greed in it. To help people you can't have greed."

Patients say ensuring a steady supply of marijuana is a major roadblock.

Dr. Grant Higginson, state health officer, said OMMA is working as designed.

"It's fundamentally a solid law and program," he said. "There are still a
number of issues. I expect to see changes through court action, ballot
measures or legislation."

Higginson is speaking today at the Second National Clinical Conference on
Cannabis Therapeutics in Portland. He will address a crowd of researchers
and health professionals about Oregon's experience with the law.

Voters approved OMMA in 1998, giving qualified patients the right to grow
up to seven plants or designate a caregiver to do so. No sale is permitted,
but patients can share with one another. The Legislature amended the act in
1999.

The state is required to maintain a registry of cardholders and verify
information to law enforcement.

While the program has had its problems o including a Molalla osteopath who
signed the necessary approval cards for more than 800 patients o some
supporters want the program to be expanded.

John Sajo, director of Voter Power, said the act is not working well at
all. Voter Power is sponsoring an initiative, commonly known as Oregon
Medical Marijuana Act 2, that would amend the original law.

He estimates that tens of thousands could benefit from the act, compared
with the 2,548 who have been approved by the state to use marijuana for
medical use. Itis hard to qualify for a card; it's harder to ensure a
steady supply.

"Every week I have someone crying because they can't get medicine," Sajo said.

The petitioners have until July 5 to get the 66,786 signatures needed to
put OMMA2 on the November ballot.

The initiative would dramatically expand the original act. More medical
professionals would be able to qualify patients for the program. A
caregiver not only would get paid, but also would be able to look after
more than one patient. Patients or their caregivers would be able to
increase the number of plants they could grow and the amount of marijuana
they could possess. And the measure would create dispensaries where
patients could purchase their medicine.

Stormy Ray, one of the petitioners for the original law, opposes the
proposed amendment. Ray, who runs a nonprofit Salem resource center for
patients throughout the state, said it would destroy the current law for
all patients by turning medical marijuana into a commercial operation that
runs smack against the federal Controlled Substances Act prohibiting the
manufacture and distribution of marijuana.

She points to raids on cannabis clubs in California, which has one of the
most liberal medical marijuana laws, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruling
against the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative.

Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington,
D.C., said the high court only ruled on one issue: that medical necessity
is not a valid exception to the federal controlled substances act. It did
not address other points, including whether the federal government can
override states' role in regulating the practice of medicine or intrastate
commerce.

The cooperative is pursing those issues in court, he said.

Medical marijuana laws have been doing well in the eight states where they
were passed, Mirken said. They are Oregon, Alaska, California, Colorado,
Hawaii, Maine, Nevada and Washington. There are proposals in various stages
in Vermont, District of Columbia and Arizona.

A recent poll in 10 states found a majority of the people surveyed
supported medical marijuana. Four of the states already had laws on their
books.

"I take that as an indication that folks are happy," Mirken said. "In
general, things seem to have gone smoothly.i

Although Younger has problems with the current law, she opposes the sale of
marijuana to patients as a solution to the supply problem.

She says she will support combining two gardens to share expenses, labor
and plants because there are many indigent, ailing patients who can't do so
on their own.

Susan Tom can be reached at (503) 399-6744.

More information

The Second National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics will be
held today and Saturday at the Holiday Inn, Portland Convention Center,
1021 NE Grand Ave., Portland.

Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. today. Sessions run 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
today and Saturday.

For information: (503) 731-6633