MARIJUANA ACTIVIST SAYS 'NO' TO POLICE SOLICITING

(Albany OR)- A marijuana activist says he will let police make spot
checks during the "Rock-N-Reggae Revival" on his property this weekend
- -- but he is drawing the line at their request for unrestricted access.

"They want to come in at any time and stay for as long as they want,"
Bill Conde said. And that, he said, would step on his and his guests'
rights to privacy, free speech and peaceful assembly.

But Sheriff Dave Burright doesn't buy it. "We have absolute proof that
there have been open and rampant drug sales and use at the last three
concerts, which they continue to deny," Burright said.

"Because of that, we have very little trust in what they have to say
and their ability to control the crowd."

Conde said he's willing to do what he's done before -- let uniformed
deputies onto the concert site north of Coburg a couple of times a
day, allowing them to walk through with his security guards.

Deputies would have had the right to enter the event under a proposed
revision to the county's mass gathering ordinance, but city officials
delayed making the decision this week, calling it "unwieldy."

Burright said he he may send undercover detectives to the three-day
event to crack down on drug-sellers, as he did during Conde's "World
Hemp Festival" in July and a similar event last year.

Burright said he didn't crack down on people smoking marijuana,
something he views differently than selling. Under Oregon law,
possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is a violation, similar
to a traffic ticket.