Pubdate: Sat, 9 Apr 2011
Source: News Register (McMinnville, OR)
Copyright: 2011 News-Register Publishing Co.
Contact: http://www.newsregister.com/submit-letter
Website: http://www.newsregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2622
Author: Hannah Hoffman, Of the News-Register
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/NORML (NORML)
Bookmark: http://www.drugsense.org/cms/geoview/n-us-or (Oregon)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - U.S.)

ONE MAN'S MEDICINAL HERB ANOTHER'S DANGEROUS DRUG

When Mary Jane pays a visit, controversy is her constant companion. 
It dogs her like a shadow, an evil twin.

She's a nasty house guest, critics say, and Oregon's medical 
marijuana program is remiss in extending her an invitation.

When her leaves are dried and burned, they burden the body with more 
carcinogens than tobacco, they say. Her beguiling smoke impairs the 
memory, dulls the mind, destroys the powers of concentration, focus, 
purpose, ambition and motivation, they say.

She's habituating, they argue. And she invites use of more potent and 
addictive drugs - true narcotics like coke, crack and meth, they maintain.

But the green, leafy plant has plenty of defenders.

They say it eases pain, nausea, tension, relieves stress and improves 
appetite. It provides an effective counter to chemotherapy among the 
cancer-ridden, and without some of the dangerous side-effects of narcotics.

It provides a two-martini lunch with less short- and long-term harm 
than the two martinis, they argue. Alcohol is actually much more 
damaging and addictive, they maintain.

The drug goes by a wide variety of names, which have waxed and waned 
over the years. They include marijuana, cannabis, reefer, ganja, 
weed, pot, Mary Jane and hippie lettuce.

In recent years, some growers have cultivated super varieties in 
elaborate facilities featuring the top techniques and equipment known 
to science. And, like rose growers, they have taken to branding the 
results to distinguish them in the marketplace.

Examples known to local law enforcement include sticky icky, 
blueberry, supadank and juicy fruit. It's as it their plants were 
their pets, said Yamhill County Sheriff's Sgt. Chris Ray, who heads 
the Yamhill County Interagency Narcotics Team.

The federal government strictly forbids its production and 
distribution, as do all 50 states to one extent or another.

However, the Internet abounds with sites dedicated to its cultivation 
and consumption.

You can readily learn how to grow it, process it, store it, smoke it 
or even bake it. You can even learn how to beat tests designed to 
detect it, if you believe the claims.

On Craigslist, you can find people trying to buy or sell it. You can 
even find people offering sex in exchange for it, if you find that a 
bigger lure than cash.

Groups like NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of 
Marijuana Laws, sees nothing amiss in Mary Jane's pervasive if 
clandestine presence.

Plenty of other people do, starting with law enforcement leaders like 
Sheriff Jack Crabtree and District Attorney Brad Berry. They view 
Oregon's medical marijuana program nothing more than a cynical cover 
for an insidious drug culture.

So she isn't likely to shed her double any time soon. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake