MAKING A POINT ABOUT POT

Medical marijuana advocates protest an Oregonian editorial questioning
a ballot measure on dispensaries

The Mail Tribune got an earful Wednesday from medical marijuana
supporters who were miffed at a recent editorial that appeared in the
paper claiming medical pot initiatives are just a smoke screen for
across-the-board legalization.

The editorial was written by staff at The Oregonian newspaper and the
Mail Tribune chose to reprint it in Saturday's edition.

This didn't sit well with the 20 or so sign-waving protesters from
various medical marijuana advocacy groups from across the state who
lined the sidewalk in front of the Mail Tribune building at 111 North
Fir Street. They scheduled the protest at 4:20 p.m., to coincide with
the symbolic "420" number revered in cannabis culture.

The protesters called the editorial insulting and chastised the Mail
Tribune for running it on its editorial page.

"It's a slap in the face to the 40,000 people in the (medical
marijuana) program," said Christine McGarvin, the president of the
Institute for Cannabis Therapeutics, based in Eugene.

McGarvin organized the protest, which mirrored a similar event staged
outside the Oregonian building a few days earlier.

"Everyone is entitled to their opinion but to repeat false information
makes us angry," McGarvin said. "This editorial basically said
people's medical problems aren't real."

The editorial argued that Oregon has not engaged in a constructive
dialogue about marijuana measures such as the newly proposed
Initiative 28 set for November, which would allow state-regulated
marijuana dispensaries.

The editorial called into question the bulk of medical marijuana
patients who seek a pot permit for "severe pain" as opposed to
glaucoma or cancer. The editorial did not say those who can benefit
from a marijuana prescription should go without, but did suggest many
proponents are using the medical initiatives as a back door to
legalization.

"Anyone over the age of 18 with a doctor's note that says they can
benefit from smoking marijuana can apply to the Oregon Health Division
for a card," the editorial said.

Darlene Johnston, from Josephine County, said she probably would not
have smoked marijuana at all if it wasn't for her back pain.

"They had me on five Vicodin a day and I couldn't function," Johnston
said. "I hated the pharmaceuticals. They'll rot your guts. They made
me sick to my stomach."

Johnston and Brenda Thomas said marijuana allows them to dodge the
side effects of narcotics to live fuller lives.

Thomas, of Grants Pass, has a degenerative disease that caused her
pain on the job. She said she uses marijuana paste to rub on her back
that soothes the pain and allows her to keep her job as an office worker.

"If it wasn't for marijuana I would be on welfare the rest of my
life," she said. "How can that be a bad thing for society?"

Mail Tribune Editor Bob Hunter said the paper doesn't necessarily
agree with the editorial's position.

"We run opinions from a wide variety of people," he said. "In this
case we picked up an opinion by the Oregonian and used it. We'd be
happy to publish -- and we have published -- opinions that support
marijuana programs."

Hunter said the paper's official position is that it is sympathetic to
those who gain medical help from marijuana, but the laws are loosely
written and cause confusion for proponents, users and law
enforcement.

However, Mike Kerns, who moved to Oregon from Indiana primarily for
the marijuana program, said the tone of the editorial was a "crock."

"That's why I'm standing up today," he said. "Not everybody is full of
s--t. There's a lot of people really sick who get the help they need
from marijuana."