Pubdate: Wed, 13 May 2015
Source: Bulletin, The (Bend, OR)
Copyright: 2015 Western Communications Inc.
Contact:  http://www.bendbulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/62

RESPECT FOR THE LAW SHOULD MATTER AT MARIJUANA COMMITTEE

Call us old-fashioned, but we're troubled by the notion that among 
those setting the rules for marijuana markets in Oregon is a handful 
of folks who have had serious run-ins with the law over weed. Surely 
less tarnished "experts" could have been found.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission recently appointed more than 30 
Oregonians to a trio of committees and subcommittees that will make 
recommendations about what legal marijuana markets should look like 
when shops open next year. Many are lawyers, though there are also a 
county commissioner, policemen and the Clackamas County Sheriff in the group.

And there are several who have been charged with, and in some cases 
convicted of, felonies related to the drug. Some have had convictions 
expunged, and some have seen charges dropped, as was the case in 
which one member was charged with delivery of a controlled substance 
to a minor.

Tom Towslee, spokesman for the OLCC, told Bulletin reporter Taylor W. 
Anderson that agency officials have vetted the candidates carefully 
and are fully aware of the legal problems some of them have had. 
They're the best people for the job, he said.

We'll grant that they might be experts. Dr. Brent Kenyon, as an 
example, is the founder of a Medford medical collective that has been 
one of the biggest prescribers of medical marijuana through the 
years. He himself has a history of possession and manufacturing of 
controlled substances, among other things. Clearly he knows his way 
around weed - and around the laws that have governed the stuff - 
better than most.

But his record would lead almost anyone to suspect that the good 
doctor decided long ago that the law, at least where marijuana is 
concerned, does not apply to him. The same can be said for other 
appointees who've had weed-related legal difficulties through the years.

The pot committee appointees are a surprise and a disappointment. 
Would the OLCC ask bootleggers to help it work out Oregon's rules on 
alcohol? Why, then, should demonstrated scofflaws be asked to write 
the rules on marijuana?
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom