Pubdate: Sat, 10 Nov 2007 Source: Statesman Journal (Salem, OR) Copyright: 2007 Statesman Journal Contact: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/427 Author: Ruth Liao HASHISH CASE BRINGS ISSUE TO FOREFRONT Derived Drug's Place Unclear Under Medical Marijuana Statutes The details concerning a Marion County grand jury's refusal to indict a Keizer man for turning his medical marijuana into hash oil remain secret by law, but the decision has rekindled the debate about interpretations of Oregon's medical marijuana statutes. Advocates of medical marijuana providers said some law enforcement officials still have a hard time accepting legal medicinal users. "It's still difficult for people to get used to the fact that it was once someone they were putting in jail," said Brian Michaels, a Eugene-area lawyer who is a member of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act advisory committee. But prosecutors and law enforcement officers said that hashish is illegal under federal controlled-substance guidelines, which Oregon has adopted. Oregon's medical marijuana act allows for marijuana derivatives, but hashish is considered a separate substance, said Deputy District Attorney Courtland Geyer. "It is classified as a separate drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act," Geyer said. "And they are treated as separate drugs in Oregon's entire network of drug laws." Anthony Wyatt Beasley, 28, of Keizer was arrested Oct. 19 after police were called to his home on a report of a possible bomb threat, police said. Officers found PVC pipes filled with a concentration of marijuana and police thought hashish was being made. Beasley, a medical marijuana patient and provider, told police he was extracting tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, from his medicinal marijuana. Michaels thinks hashish is a compound of marijuana and should be considered legal. "It's become common to distinguish in the lexicon of our culture marijuana -- bud and hashish -- but they're both represented under marijuana," Michaels said. While Beasley's case was dismissed this week, other cases in Marion County regarding the use of hashish are pending, Geyer said. Beasley's case initially drew attention because he was growing 24 plants in his backyard, which bordered a parking lot of McNary High School. Former Keizer City Council Charles Lee wrote a letter to Keizer City Council, asking if it would consider an ordinance prohibiting medical marijuana from being grown within a 1,000 feet of a school. The outcome of Beasley's case did not affect his opinion, Lee said. "It's just the concept of safety and welfare of kids and keeping those things within 1,000 feet of a school," Lee said. Lee said he also talked with Marion County commissioners about adopting a similar ordinance for the county. Madeline Martinez, executive director of the marijuana advocacy group Oregon NORML, said law enforcement officials should be trained about understanding the legal interpretations of the law. Martinez said she's offered to conduct training for law enforcement officials and promotes continual education of medical marijuana providers. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek