Commissioners Say They'll Look at Land-Use Laws, Urge Legislature to Deal With Grow Operation Complaints, Which Include High Traffic, Bright Lights Cultivating medical marijuana is legal, but complaints are growing from neighbors over the pungent smell, bright lights and traffic at all hours. Jackson County commissioners Thursday said they might consider altering land-use laws to allay these concerns or urging legislators to address the issue of public nuisance, but they wanted to stay clear of any actions that would conflict with state laws. [continues 779 words]
Authorities seized $3 million worth of illegal Mexican drug cartel marijuana in Josephine County, $1 million in Marion County, $2 million in Deschutes County. An astonishing $1 billion was found just across the border. In the words of Sen. Everett Dirksen, "Pretty soon you're talking real money." Accepting the estimate that less than 15 percent of the illegal crop is found, there really is "real money" out there, and that's just the wholesale value. The Mexican drug cartels consider that 15 percent as the cost of doing business, and they quickly turn the remaining crop into "real money," selling it to the Americans who readily seek it out, and then just as quickly they ship the money off to Mexico. [continues 648 words]
Federal Marijuana Studies Should Be Passed Around to Different Institutions When the federal Department of Health and Human Services recently issued a request for proposals, seeking competitive applications for the production, analysis and distribution of "marijuana cigarettes," the request might have seemed a bit unusual to those unfamiliar with Washington's dance around cannabis research. The federal government, after all, is not widely known to support marijuana cultivation. But those in the know just shrugged. The department has issued similar requests every few years to select a contractor to conduct government-approved marijuana research, and with depressing regularity it has then awarded an exclusive contract to the University of Mississippi. For 40 years now, Washington has sought such "competitive applications" and Mississippi "wins" every time. [continues 270 words]
New Smoke Shop Provides Assistance for Those Needing the Drug for Medicinal Purposes A local woman's struggle with arthritis and muscle spasms compelled her to start a business that would educate others on the benefits, growth and consumption of medical marijuana. Cynthia Townsley Willis, 52, and two partners whom she declined to identify opened the Medical Marijuana Patient Services Smoke Shop, 1252 W. McAndrews Road, Medford, in late February. The shop is one of seven in Southern Oregon that caters to the needs of medical marijuana patients. [continues 1364 words]
The Southern Oregon chapter of a national group backing marijuana law reforms will offer education, advice, support for patients Advocates for legalizing marijuana have opened a Cannabis Resource Center in downtown Medford. Organizers of the Southern Oregon chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws said the center will provide education, advocacy and support for medical marijuana patients and providers, information on marijuana legislation and a place for support groups to meet. But the center will not distribute marijuana, medical or otherwise, they said. [continues 380 words]
Judge rules Ashland church can use hallucinogenic tea during services A federal judge Thursday confirmed the right of worshippers to drink hallucinogenic tea during services at an Ashland church. Members of the Church of the Holy Light of the Queen, a Brazilian-based church with branches in Ashland and Portland, filed the motion to drink Daime tea during services, because they believe its hallucinogenic properties allow them a direct connection to Jesus. Church leader Jonathan Goldman, 58, said U.S. District Court Judge Owen Panner's ruling was a boon for religious freedom and liberty in the United States. [continues 470 words]
Grants Pass Lawmaker Says Medical-Marijauna Program Is In 'Shambles' A bill introduced in Salem Wednesday would put the state in the marijuana-growing business. Rep. Ron Maurer, R-Grants Pass, said House Bill 3247 would address problems in the medical-marijuana program and ensure patient safety. "The system we have currently is in shambles," Maurer said Wednesday in a telephone interview from Salem. He said marijuana grown for medical use has been diverted to illegitimate uses, and some medical-marijuana growers have had their plants stolen. Others may be using cannabis laced with herbicides or toxic chemicals. [continues 516 words]
Ashland's Santo Daime Sect Says Sacramental Tea Is Part Of Ritual Members of a Brazilian-based Christian church in Ashland await a decision from U.S. District Court Judge Owen Panner over worshippers' right to drink hallucinogenic tea during services. The Church of the Holy Light of the Queen took the case to federal court under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act after federal agents in 1999 arrested Jonathan Goldman, head of the Ashland-based branch of the Santo Daime (pronounced Die-May) sect, searched his home and seized a shipment of the disputed tea leaves. [continues 362 words]
The following are highlights of an interview with Barack Obama by Gary Nelson, Mail Tribune editorial page editor: Q: You mentioned timber payments to counties in passing in your speech. Do you support those payments? A: What I'd like to do is convene meetings between federal agencies, local and state governments and interested parties, and start hammering out a long-term solution that acknowledges the revenue issues that are at stake for local governments and preserves the natural resources that are so important to Oregon. [continues 513 words]
"The sky is falling, the sky is falling!" cried Chicken Little. "Emergency! Emergency!" cries Don Harmon (guest opinion, Feb. 17) with just as much connection with reality. For over three legislative sessions, Harmon has proclaimed an emergency in the workplace because some workers use marijuana therapeutically. He wants to fire any such person, no matter when or where that use occurs. It is a safety issue, he says. Oregon law says, "Patients and doctors have found marijuana to be an effective treatment"| and therefore, marijuana should be treated like other medicines;"|". In most workplaces there are established guidelines for other medicines and therapeutic marijuana is best treated like them. If there is an issue of impairment, Oregon law already allows impaired workers to be removed, no matter the cause. [continues 668 words]
The good news is no meth labs were found in Jackson County last year, thanks in large part to tough state laws that have dried up the source of ingredients. The bad news: Methamphetamine remains a huge problem because of its availability in other countries throughout the world, local law enforcement officials say. "There are super-labs in Mexico making pounds of meth a day," said Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters. "There is no border control, making Interstate 5 a pipeline for meth into the Rogue Valley." [continues 343 words]
Eagle Point and Medford Opportunity high schools were among 13 schools statewide removed from the state's watch list for schools with a high ratio of student expulsions for drug, weapon or violence-related crimes. The schools were added last year to the "persistently dangerous" watch list, which is maintained by the Oregon Department of Education under safety provisions of the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind Act. The change means no Jackson County schools are on the "dangerous" list. [continues 489 words]
Children born into families shattered by drug addiction often end up as victims of abuse and neglect. Many are placed into an already overburdened foster-care system, social services officials say. "Southern Oregon's high rate of methamphetamine use has devastated families and overwhelmed our fragile foster-care system," said Dr. Rita Sullivan, OnTrack's executive director. OnTrack on Thursday received a 5-year, $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families. The money is designed to help Southern Oregon children grow up in healthy, drug-free families, said Sullivan. [continues 150 words]
Cops Realize Medical Marijuana Garden Is Within The Law; Grower Wishes Neighbors Had Called Him First The officers serving a search warrant on what they thought was a massive marijuana-growing operation had swarmed a greenhouse filled with plants and were poised to kick in the door of a house on the property when the word came. This was a registered medical marijuana site and it complied with Oregon law. "This is a frustration for us," said Sgt. Rick Valentine, supervisor of the Jackson County Narcotics Enforcement Team, who coordinated the seven Jackson County Sheriff's Department employees making this search earlier this month. "When we spend time on what turns out to be legal activity, it takes away from what we could do on illegal activities." [continues 887 words]
Medford Woman Turns Her Life Around After Years Of Addiction EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the 12th in a series of stories on addicts recovering from meth use. The stories run on the first Sunday of each month. Disguised as a benign mood-booster, drugs first entered Cerella Powell's life by way of her mother. At 14, Powell struggled to balance school, chores and a dysfunctional home life in Rogue River. Diet pills, Powell's mother promised, would give her daughter energy. [continues 833 words]
Prescription for Trouble Legal Drugs Become a Popular Fix; Experts Say Rush to Treat Pain Opens Door to Addiction A brush with methamphetamine addiction couldn't begin to prepare Nathan Wick for the crushing grip of prescription-opiate dependency. "Cocaine and meth and all those are nothing compared to the addictions your body goes through with pain medication," the Medford resident said. Off meth for seven years, Wick, 32, started taking Vicodin to alleviate the pain of a 2002 back injury. As his tolerance for the prescribed drug increased, he turned to Percocet, an opiate-derived painkiller. Soon Wick was downing more than his prescribed dosage and looked to emergency rooms, urgent-care centers and, finally, street-level dealers for his next fix. [continues 1174 words]
Alleged Assailants Offered Their Victim Painkillers Before Driving Him Home Authorities in Josephine County are looking for four men they believe kidnapped a Williams man Sunday afternoon, beat him with an ax handle and then gave him medication for the pain. The 35-year-old victim told Josephine County sheriff's deputies that four men he knew burst into his [redacted] home at about noon Sunday and accused him of stealing their medical marijuana, the sheriff's office reported in a press release Monday. [continues 290 words]
Medical-Marijuana Dispensary Can't Find Welcome Home SAN FRANCISCO -- Kevin Reed launched his medical marijuana business two years ago, armed with big dreams and an Excel spreadsheet. Happy customers at his Green Cross cannabis club were greeted by so-called "bud tenders" and glass jars brimming with high-quality weed at red-tag prices. They hailed the slender, gentle Southerner as a "ganja" good Samaritan. Although Reed set out to run it like a Walgreens drugstore, his tiny storefront shop ended up buzzing with jazzy "joie de vivre." Turnover was Starbucks-style: On a good day, $30,000 in business would walk through the black, steel-gated front door. [continues 1042 words]
A massive, ongoing marijuana investigation in the Applegate area has expanded as officers continue to discover and remove plants. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters reported that officers had located 15 drug gardens by Saturday afternoon. Firefighters from Jackson County Fire District No. 3 and the Oregon Department of Forestry joined officers pulling up plants Saturday as state police and other regional agencies moved on to another project, he said. By 4 p.m. Saturday, crews had pulled 16,243 plants and planned to finish out the day and keep yanking up plants today. [continues 121 words]
Early morning raid reveals large-scale marijuana operation in dense woods near Cantrall-Buckley Park In the largest marijuana raid in Jackson County this year, officers removed more than 7,000 plants from a complex of eight gardens in the Applegate area Friday. They expect to continue today removing plants from large scattered growing operations in steep, rugged terrain in the hills south and west of Cantrall-Buckley Park. The Jackson County Sheriff's Department estimated the complex had at least 10,000 plants, most of which were 6 to 12 feet tall. [continues 827 words]
