Pubdate: Sat, 16 Jan 1999

Source: Grants Pass Daily Courier

Contact: courier@cdsnet.net

Page: Front + 3A

Author: Patricia Snyder of the Daily Courier

HAZE OF UNCERTAINTY

Oregon's Controversial Law That Allows The Use Of Marijuana For
Medicinal Purposes Is Still Embroiled In A ... Haze Of Uncertainty

Sheryl Lee smokes more marijuana than she used to.

Until recent months, the Williams woman and her live-in companion, Alan
Venet, said they used the drug mostly in the evenings as part of their
religion.

"It focuses your being," Venet said, similar to yoga and meditation.

About a year ago, Lee experienced her first seizure. She turned to
doctors, who prescribed medication to prevent the seizures for which
they found no specific cause, she said. Now, Lee reaches for the pot
pipe first thing in the morning so that she can keep down that
medicine, and one in the afternoon so she can work up an appetite.

Oregonians, including Lee, who use marijuana as medicine could breathe
easier after a voter-passed measure allowing such use took effect on
Dec. 3.

However, a haze of uncertainty and fear clings to the new,
controversial law. Lee even asked a lawyer to review it to make sure
she followed it correctly.

"I don't want to be treated like a criminal," she said. "I'm not a
criminal."

She now keeps copies of her medical records and the law with her, in
addition to certified proof that she mailed the information to the
stat's registry office. Discussing medicinal marijuana was an
uncomfortable subject, she recalled.

"My poor doctor just acted like I stuck him with a pin when I asked him
about it," she said.

Local medical providers appear to be approaching the issue with extreme
caution - or avoiding it altogether.

The Dubs Cancer Center at the Rogue Valley Medical Center, for example,
is waiting for the Oregon Medical Association to release guidelines in
the spring. Cancer symptoms are among those that can be legally treated
with marijuana under the new law.

Patients with glaucoma - another condition the law lists - shouldn't
expect a recommendation from either the Grants Pass ophthalmology
clinics. Both have policies against recommending the drug.

"There's better stuff out there," said Dr. Michael Hoyt of the Medical
Eye Center. While marijuana might be helpful for pain or nausea, legal
medications do a better job of reducing eye pressure and have minimal
side effects, he said.

Dr. Russ Leavitt with Cascade Eye Care agreed that those who suffer
from something other than glaucoma could find marijuana use helpful.

But he's told the few patients who asked him for a recommendation that
he doesn't believe it has a place in ophthalmology among techniques
ranging from prescription medication to surgery.

Some medical providers refused to comment on the new law, nervous about
the implications of federal legal challenges of California pot clubs.

Several states have recently passed medicinal marijuana laws, adding to
the legal uncertainty because marijuana strictly an outlaw drug
according to the federal government.

Oregon state officials do not advice people about where to obtain
marijuana, because they don't want to violate federal law, said Dr.
Grant Higginson, state health officer with the Oregon Health Division.

"People think that it's a prescription or that the Health Division is
going to be distributing it or that there's going to be places set up
where they can go and smoke," he added. "None of that is true."

The only legal ways for medicinal users to obtain marijuana is to grow
it themselves - within the set limits - or to get it free from someone
who can legally grow it, said Peter Cogswell, spokesman for the Oregon
Department of Justice.

"The law doesn't allow you to buy it or for it to be sold to you," he
said.

Lee sees this situation as a weakness of the system. She doesn't grow
her own, but she's considering an outdoor crop. One worry is that
others might steal the plants.

Marijuana isn't the problem some people fear, she said. She's smoked it
for 20 years, she said, and judging from the number of people to use
it, society would be battling more problems if it were as dangerous as
some claim it is.

Instead, she said, enforcement should focus on drugs like cocaine and
heroin. She's seen lives deteriorate because of those.

"It's life-threatening, although you don't die," she said. "Your life
goes away."

Lee isn't concerned about a moral or social stigma attached to her
because of marijuana use.

"I'm not really worried about your perception of what I do," she said
Those who know her understand why she uses marijuana, she explained
Strangers likely wouldn't ask her about it because they wouldn't be
aware she even uses it.

But others have been less discrete than Lee. The issue of public
consumption arose on New Year's Eve in a Newport restaurant, when the
manager told a man he couldn't light up there. Mike Assenberg of
Waldport claimed federal law allows consumption of medication anywhere
and state law can't contradict that.

But Oregon's law states that medical marijuana users aren't exempt from
laws that prohibit use in a public place or in public view.

The matter is currently under legal review.

Employers are also asking questions. The law states a business isn't
expected to accommodate medical use in the work place. Workers seeking
answers are told the law is pretty clear on that point, said Geoff
Sugerman, spokesman for the group Oregonians for Medical Rights, which
supported the new law.

He recommends first visiting the doctor and securing a recommendation,
then taking it to the boss.

"I think in most cases, employers will be compassionate for their
employees," he said.

Local law enforcement officials say they haven't experienced a rash of
problems related to medical marijuana use.

In one case, state police troopers even asked about the defense while
preparing marijuana possession charges, according to OSP Sgt. Richard
Kuehmichel.

"The guy said to the effect of, 'Heck no, anybody that claims that is
just plain lying. You smoke dope to smoke dope,'" he said with a
chuckle.

Still, Kuehmichel isn't laughing when it comes to speculation about
recreational users who might abuse the law by claiming a medical need.

Like Lee's stance that strangers wouldn't know she used marijuana
medicinally, some officers believe the matter will likely remain in
smoky back rooms of people's homes.

Use will occur in private, explained Sgt Jim Schlegel of Grants Pass
Department of Public Safety.

"Chances are we're not going to be in those homes," he said.

Even if questions are raised, those legitimately under the law will
cooperate with questions, said Lt. Brian Anderson of the Josephine
County Sheriff's Office.

"Those who really need it, I think they're going to be up front when
you contact them," he said.