CENTER SUPPORTS MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE

The Compassion Center Offers Cultivation Classes, Confidential
Consultations To Patients

Nearly four years after the implementation of the Oregon Medical Marijuana
Act, there are still few support services for OMMA patients in Eugene.

But the Compassion Center, a nonprofit corporation that opened in Eugene
two years ago, is striving to create a "model organization" for the support
of medical marijuana users that the rest of the state could follow.

The center offers many services to its members, including classes on
cultivation of the plant, confidential consultation and assistance for
patients registering with Oregon Health Services. An "introduction" night
that provides a basic understanding of the OMMA takes place from 6:30 p.m.
to 8 p.m. the first Thursday of every month.

Teaching patients how to grow marijuana is especially important, because
while Oregon allows possession and use of the drug for medical marijuana
card-holders, it's still a crime to buy the substance.

The clinic, located at 1055 Bertelsen Road in Eugene, opened in December
2000. It is funded by donations, clinic revenue and membership dues. The
center is also applying for non-profit status with the IRS, which will
allow people to make tax-exempt donations.

Compassion Center President Todd Dalotto, who co-founded the organization,
said he's pleased with the progress of the center during the last two years.

"We have people coming from all over the state for our services," said
Dalotto, who has been involved with the nutritional and health aspects of
marijuana use his entire adult life. "We're creating a model organization
that we hope to duplicate in other places."

Dalotto emphasized that one of the center's main goals is to educate the
general public about the OMMA, which exempts patients from criminal
penalties related to growing and possessing the herb. In order to apply for
a medical marijuana card, patients must first be diagnosed with one of nine
qualifying ailments, such as HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer's disease and cachexia, a
condition of severe malnutrition.

Dalotto also said that he is in support of decriminalizing the drug.

"The American public seems to favor legalization, but it relies on
politicians to pass legislation, he said. "There is no reason there should
be a law against the plant unless they're using it to hurt someone."

Citing "Question 9," a recent Nevada initiative to legalize the drug,
Dalotto said he believes money plays heavily into the politics of marijuana.

"Any voter initiative for legalization always gets outspent by corporate
and government initiates," he said.

In spite of support from the Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs --
the state's largest police organization -- the measure failed, with 61
percent of voters rejecting it. National drug czar John Walters made two
trips to speak against marijuana use before voters went to the ballot.

But the Compassion Center has yet to raise ire from governing authorities
in Oregon.

Dalotto said he's received no interference from state officials and minimal
intervention from federal officials. Last year, medical marijuana patient
Leroy Stubblefield's plants were seized by Drug Enforcement Administration
agent Michael Spasaro. Doctor Phillip Leveque, a physician at the
Compassion Center for two days each month, also works at a variety of other
OMMA centers across the state, including Voter Power in Portland. He has
signed medical marijuana applications for more than 4,000 patients and said
that the law's "strange" criteria cause confusion.

"The biggest problem is that judges don't understand the law, the district
attorney doesn't understand the law and the police don't understand the
law," Leveque said.

Medical marijuana user John Walsh, a Compassion Center patient and cannabis
activist for many local organizations, said the law's gray areas make it
"difficult for there to be enough available when they need it."

A benefit for the Compassion Center and Emerald Empire Hempfest 2003 will
be held Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Campbell Club Cooperative.