POLICE SKEPTICAL ABOUT MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Oregon's medical marijuana law hasn't proven to be an overwhelming
burden on Curry County law enforcement officials, but that doesn't
mean they like it.

"I do not support medical marijuana as it is currently set up,"
Sheriff Kent Owens declared. "There's no way to monitor whether
somebody is getting their marijuana from a caregiver illegally."

Under current state law, patients or their caregivers who have permits
to grow marijuana for medicinal reasons may have up to seven plants.

Only three of them may be budding, and a permitted user may not have
more than one ounce of herb per budding plant stored up.

A permitted user can only have up to one ounce of herb with them at
any given time.

"Who's monitoring all that to see whether they're staying within the
limitations?" asked Owens, who is concerned that the law is creating a
sense of permissiveness for drug abuse in the public.

"In my opinion, it's one more way you can get a foot in the door for
the mindset that marijuana is harmless," said Owens, "but most drug
addicts will tell you they started with marijuana."

But Bob Walker, the director of the Southern Oregon Medical Marijuana
Network, which screens applicants for medical marijuana permits, said
the vast majority of permitted growers stay well within the limits of
the law.

In fact Walker, who disagrees with Owens about marijuana's "gateway
drug" affect, said he'll turn in anybody he catches trying to exceed
the legal growing limits.

"They call me a snitch, well, I'll be whatever I have to be for this
program," said Walker. "When I find out about it, I don't hesitate to
go to the police."

Walker said he and other members of the network think that's a
necessary precaution to keep their access to a drug that minimizes the
pain of disabling diseases and injuries.

"Ninety percent (of network members) will tell me that someone has
more than they're supposed to have," said Walker.

Walker said he wants to meet with Owens and other law enforcement
officials to discuss their concerns about skirting of the legal limits
for growing.

"I want to let them know what's going on, I want to work with them,"
said Walker. "That's the only damn way it will ever work."

Brookings Police Officer Ron Plaster, the department's narcotics
officer, said he has been getting fewer complaints about illegal
growers as more people become aware of the medical marijuana law.

"It's getting rare, people know it's legal so they aren't as inclined
to complain," said Plaster, who said there are probably 50 to 100
growers in Curry County.

Most growers he catches exceeding the legal limit are pushing the
envelope to see how much they can get away with, said Plaster.

Curry County District Attorney Charlie Steak said that since the
medical marijuana law was passed by voters in 1998, he has probably
prosecuted less than 10 cases of growers who have been fined or jailed
for exceeding limits.

Usually when a grower is caught with more than allowed, destroying the
extra amount is all it takes to bring them into compliance, said Steak.

But Steak agrees with Owens that the law encourages people who don't
have disabilities to get permits to grow marijuana plants.

"The act is supposed to be for people who are in severe pain from
disabling illness," said Steak. "'My back aches' isn't what it was
intended for."