Pubdate: Thu, 25 Oct 2012
Source: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Copyright: 2012 The Oregonian
Contact:  http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/324
Author: Noelle Crombie

MARIJUANA DISPENSARY, RAIDED IN TIGARD, REOPENS IN PORTLAND

The Human Collective, a medical marijuana dispensary shut down last 
month by Washington County authorities, is expected to reopen next 
week with the same membership fee and similar prices for marijuana.

The new establishment has one key distinction from its predecessor: 
It's located in Multnomah County, widely perceived as a friendlier 
environment for medical marijuana retail outlets.

The Human Collective II is in a strip mall at 9220 S.W. Barbur Blvd. 
in Portland, a five minute drive from its previous location in Tigard.

Sarah Bennett and Don Morse, who operated the original Human 
Collective, will not run the new outfit, said Leslie Miller, a 
medical marijuana patient and the executive director of the Human 
Collective II. Miller, who obtained marijuana at the establishment's 
previous location, said Morse served as a consultant to the new 
establishment but will not take part in its daily operations.

Bennett and Morse have not been charged with a crime. Authorities 
have carried out search warrants at 16 locations, including eight 
grow sites, in four counties related to the Human Collective. The 
Washington County Sheriff's Office said it seized $74,000, 732 
marijuana plants and 75 pounds of processed marijuana as part of the 
ongoing investigation.

Between September 2011 and the day it was raided, the Human 
Collective did $1.7 million in marijuana sales, authorities said.

Morse has strenuously denied that the establishment sold marijuana. 
Oregon's medical marijuana law does not allow for the sale of the drug.

Bracken McKey, a senior deputy district attorney in Washington 
County, said if the new establishment operates like the old one, 
"they are delivering marijuana for profit and operating outside the 
protection of the medical marijuana statute, making them subject to 
criminal prosecution."

But in Multnomah County, a criminal case against a medical marijuana 
outlet would be unusual.

Mike Schrunk, the Multnomah County District Attorney, said he doesn't 
condone medical marijuana dispensaries. But he said his priorities 
remain violent crime and heroin-related offenses.

When it comes to medical marijuana establishments, he said, "if there 
is an investigation done and there are law violations, we will file 
the appropriate actions."

"We are not giving them a pass," he said.

Earlier this year Schrunk paid an unannounced visit to a medical 
marijuana club to get an idea of how such places operate. This week 
he said places that make the drug available to patients are an issue 
lawmakers should address.

It's not known how many dispensaries exist in Oregon. Authorities in 
Lane, Washington, Josephine and Malhuer counties have cracked down on 
such establishments.

Portland police Sgt. Pete Simpson said community complaints play a 
role in whether police investigate certain offenses.

"We are not going to tell car prowlers it's OK to prowl cars," he 
said. "The reality is we can't investigate every car prowl."

The Human Collective II will be staffed by volunteers, Miller said. 
Annual memberships will cost $365. Patients will be allowed up to an 
ounce of marijuana a week, and prices will be capped at $8 a gram.

State law allows grower to recoup the costs of supplies and utilities 
to cultivate marijuana. At Human Collective II, growers will be 
allowed to set their own reimbursement rates, a practice used at the 
original establishment.

Miller, who is 50 and uses cannabis daily for pain related to 
fibromyalgia and chronic muscle spasms, said since the Human 
Collective closed she's turned to other Portland medical marijuana 
outlets where she paid $10 a gram.

She said she doesn't like marijuana social clubs, where people use 
marijuana on-site, preferring the Human Collective's approach, in 
which patients got marijuana and used it elsewhere.

"We are not a happy-get-high club," she said. "We are looking at what 
we can provide for the patients."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom