HOME MAY BECOME HAVEN FOR MARIJUANA

PRINEVILLE, Ore. -- A Crook County man affiliated with the Church of
the Universe, which supports the use of marijuana, wants to turn his
home into a "religious mission," wedding chapel, bed and breakfast
and interior design studio.

But members of the Crook County Planning Commission want to ponder
Richard A.B. Szymanski's request because his property is zoned for
farm use.

Szymanski wants to use his home for monthly spiritual meetings and as
a gathering place for medical marijuana patients.

Szymanski, a plaster contractor, said he is registered as a medical
marijuana patient caregiver and grower. As a caregiver, he can
provide marijuana to others who are legally allowed to use the drug.

"We don't consider ourselves a church, but we do have a mission," he
told the board. "We're trying to start a new way of looking at
spirituality."

His 1.1-acre property includes a swimming pool, pond and Szymanski's
home, which was designed and decorated by his wife, Margaret
Szymanski.

He said people come to the home not only for the mission meeting, but
to see examples of his wife's work. Margaret Szymanski operates an
interior design studio.

He got his ordination as a minister of the Church of the Universe by
sending off for it.

A half-dozen of Szymanski's neighbors expressed concerns about the
number of people and cars Szymanski's medicinal marijuana mission
would bring to their neighborhood.

"The last thing I want to do is inconvenience the neighbors,"
Szymanski said. "This is a respectable thing. ... This mission would
give medical marijuana patients a place to go -- and it is
spiritually based."