Pubdate: Wed, 15 Oct 2014
Source: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Copyright: 2014 The Oregonian
Contact:  http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/324
Author: Noelle Crombie
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN OREGON

Latest Spike in Patient Numbers Attributed to Newly Licensed
Dispensary Industry

Andrew Courtenay was on his fourth round of antibiotics for an arm
infection when he decided, at his mother's urging, to become an Oregon
medical marijuana patient.

The 24-year-old said he got a card in March, the same month the state
began regulating dispensaries, and easily tracked down a type of
potent marijuana oil that eased his symptoms.

Courtenay, who lives in Portland, is one of about 8,900 Oregon medical
marijuana patients who have enrolled in the program since January.

The number of Oregon medical marijuana patients has risen steadily
since the program was approved by voters 16 years ago. Enrollment has
seen dramatic annual increases in the past but has leveled off, and
even dropped, in recent years. But in the past nine months the number
of patients has risen by nearly 15 percent -- a spike that medical
marijuana advocates attribute to the introduction of legal
dispensaries in the state.

"They can walk in with their money and get what they need," said
Sandee Burbank, who owns three medical clinics where people can get
marijuana cards, including one in Southeast Portland.

The dispensaries give people an easy alternative to growing their own
medical marijuana or having someone grow it for them, she said.

"They can walk in with their money and get what they need," she said.

The state has long been home to a medical marijuana retail industry.
Unregulated storefronts offering medical marijuana proliferated,
especially in Portland, where marijuana is a low law enforcement
priority. Elsewhere, the retail establishments were subject to raids
and prosecution.

In 2013, the Legislature passed a law establishing a regulated
dispensary system. The Oregon Health Authority drafted rules for
dispensaries and earlier this year began licensing and inspecting the
establishments.

The state has licensed 193 retail establishments since March, 88 of
them in Multnomah County. Another 41 dispensaries statewide have been
issued provisional or conditional licenses.

Amy Margolis, a Portland attorney who represents medical marijuana
dispensaries and marijuana growers, said the public's attitude toward
cannabis has shifted in recent years.

"People feel safer and they should feel safer," Margolis said. "It's
way different than it was five years ago, than it was two years ago,
and I think people are recognizing that."

Courtenay said marijuana's acceptance played a role in his decision to
pursue a medical marijuana card. Patients are listed in a state
cardholder registry, something that previously worried him even though
the registry is confidential.

But now, he said: "People are more comfortable putting their name on
paper, with it becoming more recognized and accepted."

Another factor contributing to the growing numbers: the expansion last
year of the Oregon medical marijuana program to include post-traumatic
stress disorder as a qualifying condition. According to the latest
statistics from the program, 2,433 people list PTSD as their
qualifying condition for medical marijuana.

Josh Marquis, the Clatsop County district attorney and critic of the
medical marijuana program and the November ballot measure proposal to
legalize pot for recreational use, said the increasing number of
medical marijuana patients underscores how easy it is to get a patient
card in Oregon.

Paul Stanford, who owns the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation Clinics,
which operate in Oregon and other medical marijuana states, said he's
seen an uptick in patients from out of state. Oregon is the only state
that allows out-of-staters to obtain medical marijuana cards.

Oregon has issued medical marijuana cards to out-of-state residents
since 2010. Agency statistics show the number has gone from 41 patient
cards to non-Oregon residents in 2010 to 1,208 so far this year.
(Willie Nelson annually renews his Oregon medical marijuana card, said
Stanford who helps the singer and members of his entourage with the
process.)

Oregon does not extend legal protections to people with medical
marijuana cards issued by other states. However, according to
Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana patient advocacy group,
an Oregon medical marijuana card offers patients some legal protection
in Arizona, Delaware, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire and Nevada.

Stanford this week hosted a clinic in Madison, Wis., where he arranged
for people to see a physician and obtain Oregon medical marijuana
cards. He said he signed up 45 people during his trip.

"We are finding a lot of patients are flying in from Texas, from all
over, and getting cannabis and taking it home with them," said
Stanford. "Patients come in who have end-stage cancer. They are coming
here buying the oils, the extracts and taking it back home with them
and treating themselves with it."

"Anyone can get one," he said.

Medical Marijuana Cardholders in Oregon

January 2005: 10,421

January 2006: 11,853

January 2007: 12,895

January 2008: 15,927

January 2009: 20,842

January 2010: 26,274

January 2011: 38,269

January 2012: 57,386

January 2013: 54,589

January 2014: 60,516

October 2014: 69,429

Source - Oregon Health Authority

Out-Of-State Cardholders

Oregon medical marijuana cards issued to patients with mailing
addresses outside of Oregon:

2010: 41

2011: 462

2012: 754

2013: 862

2014 (partial): 1,208

(Compiled Oct. 7, 2014)

Source - Oregon Health Authority
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MAP posted-by: Richard