POT FIND IS THE LEGAL KIND

Cops Realize Medical Marijuana Garden Is Within The Law; Grower
Wishes Neighbors Had Called Him First

The officers serving a search warrant on what they thought was a
massive marijuana-growing operation had swarmed a greenhouse filled
with plants and were poised to kick in the door of a house on the
property when the word came.

This was a registered medical marijuana site and it complied with
Oregon law.

"This is a frustration for us," said Sgt. Rick Valentine, supervisor
of the Jackson County Narcotics Enforcement Team, who coordinated the
seven Jackson County Sheriff's Department employees making this
search earlier this month. "When we spend time on what turns out to
be legal activity, it takes away from what we could do on illegal
activities."

But if the misguided raid was a frustration for investigators, it was
a shock to the grower, who arrived home to find a fleet of law
enforcement sport-utility vehicles parked in his driveway and
officers everywhere.

"I felt pretty violated," said the grower, who didn't want to be
named in the newspaper. "I'm not a criminal.

"They turned out to be nice-enough guys, but I wish they had talked
to me."

He said he wished his neighbors who complained about his 65-foot-long
greenhouse filled with bushy marijuana plants had come to him before
contacting police.

He could have explained that he is the registered grower for four
medical-marijuana patients -- a 22-year-old woman who was in a car
crash and suffers from back pain, her mother who has multiple
sclerosis, a woman with ovarian cancer, and an elderly man who has
battled excruciating migraine headaches for years.

But as marijuana -- whether in registered medical-marijuana gardens
or vast cartel-operated plots in the forest -- matures in the
Southern Oregon summer, most people, wisely, don't stop to ask
questions. They call police.

"Once the plants extend beyond a fence, we get calls on a pretty
regular basis," Medford police Lt. Tim Doney said.

Valentine said his agency gets at least one call every day this time
of year from someone who has spotted pot plants. He estimates that
nearly 90 percent of easily visible gardens are medical marijuana,
but investigators must follow up every call.

"It used to be real clear-cut," Doney said. "If you saw marijuana, it
was illegal. Now we have to do more homework."

Investigators start by checking the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program
database of medical marijuana patients, caregivers and growing sites.
The program, operated by the Department of Human Services, shows
that as of July 1, the state had issued 14,868 medical marijuana
cards statewide, including 1,295 in Jackson County. The number of
registered growing sites isn't publicly available.

Under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, each cardholder can have six
mature plants, 18 seedlings, and 24 ounces of usable marijuana. A
registered grower can grow for up to four cardholders.

But investigators say the law is sometimes abused, and if they have
suspicions backed up by observation or witness statements, they will
seek a search warrant. They've done that twice this summer, only to
find compliant growers, Valentine said.

He said that in his initial survey of the site searched earlier this
month, he estimated the greenhouse contained about 300 plants. But
when the officers serving the search warrant counted stems, there
were only 24 -- the number authorized by the four cards the grower
displayed at the site.

"The law doesn't say what 'too big of a plant' is," Valentine
said.

The grower said the family friends and acquaintances who chose him to
produce their medical marijuana selected him because they knew he
could nurture plants.

"I have a good horticultural resume," he said, touting his experience
on two organic farms in Washington. He has grown medical marijuana in
the Rogue Valley for two years.

He creates organic compost teas to feed the plants and for his
efforts over a six-month growing season to produce a year's worth of
medicine, he is reimbursed $15,000 to $25,000, he said. State law
allows cardholders to reimburse growers for supplies and utilities.

He said he grows a marijuana strain that produces a high volume with
a low amount of active chemicals. He described it as "fluffy," but
still noted that each mature plant produces between one and a half
and two pounds of usable marijuana. The grower said advocacy groups
around the state help facilitate transfers of excess marijuana. State
law allows a cardholder to give marijuana to another cardholder if no
money is exchanged, but authorities said there is no clear provision
for clubs to swap or share marijuana.

"For voters, the intent was good," Valentine said of the medical
marijuana law Oregon voters approved in 1998. "They wanted to help
people who were suffering, but this has gone beyond what people
envisioned."

He said permitting smaller amounts and requiring growers to submit to
compliance checks would make enforcement easier for police.

He estimates that JACNET currently spends nearly 50 percent of its
time investigating complaints about marijuana ultimately found to be
compliant, medical growing operations.

"It takes a lot of time out of our schedule that could be spent on
methamphetamine or heroin, which is increasing here," Valentine said.

The grower searched this month said he understands how people can
have fears about drugs and drug-related violence in their
neighborhoods when they see marijuana growing.

"If I saw something that looked dangerous next to my home, I would
want it checked out, too," he said.

However, he said people shouldn't feel threatened just because they
don't understand the medical marijuana program and assume all growers
are criminal.

"I run a clean operation," he said. "I have my own family to keep
safe."

He said the greenhouse shields neighbors from the scent and view of
his controversial crop. He reiterates, though, that a majority of
voters has authorized operations like his.

"Like it or not, it's the law," he said.