MEDICAL MARIJUANA: HELPFUL OR HARMFUL?

ONTARIO -- Oregon voters will have the opportunity to approve the use
of dispensaries to grow and distribute marijuana for the use of medial
marijuana users in the state, or to simply reject the initiative in
the general election in November.

The measure, known as Initiative 28, will be on the ballot Nov.
2.

The initiative will coincide with the measure already in place,
Measure 67, which was approved by voters in 1998.

Ontario Police Chief Mike Kee wants to raise awareness to the
issue.

A person that works with Kee recently returned from a conference in
Portland, where medical marijuana was discussed.

Kee was curious, so he looked into the issue.

Much of the information Kee discovered surprised him, whether for
better or worse.

Kee said according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration Web site, only 6 percent of Americans use illegal drugs.

"When I started looking at this stuff, it is doing good," Kee said
about the money spent on the war on drugs. "For years, the use of
illegal drugs by young people is decreasing."

Kee thinks it is important to begin the discussions about the medical
marijuana program in the state, and also wants voters to be educated
on the topic.

"It is a drug, not a medicine," he said about marijuana. "It is not
taken like a medicine, it is not regulated like a medicine. There is
nobody looking at the quality of it, like a medicine."

During the interview, Kee never mentioned if he was for or against the
use of medical marijuana, and he said he is not a prohibitionist. He
just wants people to be informed.

Some of the statistics out there about the use of medical marijuana in
Oregon show that there are 36,380 state residents with a medical
marijuana card. Of those, slightly more than 1,400 are cancer
patients, and about 500 have glaucoma -- the two main reasons the
measure was passed 12 years ago. The remainder of the card holders say
it is for severe pain. There are more than 6,000 more patients with
their cases pending.

In Malheur County, there are 104 individuals with permits.

In Oregon, there are 3,200 physicians who have prescribed marijuana
for medical use. Out of those, 10 have prescribed more than 60 percent
of the patients marijuana in the state, or roughly 21,828 patients.
One of those doctors have prescribed more than 25 percent of the
patients, or more than 9,000 patients.

"There is no one overseeing the program. It is fraught with abuse,"
Kee said. "I just wanted to get the conversation started. I don't want
to sound like a guy who says it is bad, I am not that guy. I want to
have a dialect. Let's do this for the right reason."

Kee said that marijuana use and abuse is the second leading cause,
behind prescription medication, that individuals go into treatment.

In Oregon, per capita, medical marijuana card holders are 13 percent
higher than in California, and 9 percent higher than in Colorado.

"I don't want to get into the argument about legalizing marijuana, but
everybody is not getting the straight scoop on marijuana," Kee said.