OREGONIANS LIGHT UP AS MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW TAKES EFFECT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- With a deep drag on her glowing pipe, Gail Willock
gave a satisfied stare through her hazy basement. In the 30 years she's
smoked marijuana for arthritis and glaucoma, it was probably her first legal
puff.

Willock is among the seriously ill Oregonians who breathed a sigh of relief
Thursday as a new medical marijuana law kicked in that allows them to puff
with impunity.

"I don't feel nearly as criminal as I used to," Willock said. "I don't
expect to have any problems with the local police, but I don't know about
the feds."

The 48-year-old woman said marijuana cuts her pain in half and eliminates
the spasmatic nightmares triggered by her years in Vietnam as a Red Cross
volunteer.

Willock welcomed the law passed by voters last month, but bureaucrats are
hustling to iron out such details as permits and policing policies by May 1,
when medical marijuana users will receive special state registration cards.

Until then, they are protected under an affirmative defense provision
written into the law. While police are still able to arrest marijuana users,
suspects can dodge a conviction by having a doctor confirm that the drug
could ease their debilitating illness.

Voters in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada and Washington last month also approved
measures allowing use of marijuana for medical reasons. California voters
had already approved a similar measure.

Sufferers of AIDS, cancer and glaucoma qualify as long as they don't sell
the drug or use it in a public place. But the Oregon law also exempts from
prosecution people who suffer severe pain, nausea, seizures and muscle
spasms.

That's what has police worried.

"It's open to the potential for abuse," said Molalla police Chief Rob
Elkins, who sits on a task force charged with drawing up a police response
to the law.

Checked-by: Don Beck