US Attorney Dwight Holton threatens Oregon cannabis clubs AND the First Amendment

Dwight Holton, the US Attorney for Oregon, tried to silence a lawful protest by marijuana legalization activists on City Hall steps in Portland this morning, according to attorney Paul Loney.

Holton recently authored a letter circulated to cannabis patients’ clubs threatening federal law enforcement action.  The letter was endorsed by 33 of the 34 Oregon county district attorneys.  Multnomah County D.A. Michael Shrunk declined to sign on, saying, “I don’t like to threaten things that we realistically are not geared up to do,” and “combating this cannot be termed a critical priority when balanced against others.”  From the Holton letter:

“Oregon and Federal law make it illegal to sell marijuana – period, end of story,” said Holton. “The breathtaking surge in manufacture and distribution of marijuana in Oregon is putting marijuana in the hands of more and more healthy kids — and dispensaries are fueling this crisis. We are confident that responsible landlords and property owners will remove the operators of illegal dispensaries and ‘cannabis clubs’.”

In response to the crackdown, Madeline Martinez, proprietor of one of the threatened clubs, the World Famous Cannabis Cafe, called a press conference Friday afternoon at the Portland City Hall steps.  The permit had been turned in on Monday, according to Oregon NORML Legal Counsel Paul Loney.

Speaking to NORML SHOW LIVE, Loney explained, “We got word that [US Attorney] Holton contacted [Portland City Councilman] Nick Fish and told him, ‘you shouldn’t let those guys [the marijuana advocates] have their press conference at City Hall.’”  According to Loney, “Fish told him that we turned in our permit on Monday and what they’re doing is perfectly legal.”

Loney continued, “I think this is more of a story than the letter – a US Attorney, sworn to uphold the Constitution, trying to squash the First Amendment rights of Oregonians!  We are going to be investigating this and bringing it up with his boss, [Attorney General] Eric Holder.”

Martinez, who also serves as director of NORML’s state affiliate, Oregon NORML, and on the board of directors of the national organization, stated, “Between the recent report from the United Nations recommending full legalization of cannabis, Eric Holder’s vague comments about working with medical cannabis states and the recent decree from the Oregon Department of Justice, many Oregon Medical Marijuana Program registrants are confused and worried for their safety.”

Loney told the assembled protestors, a crowd of roughly forty, that nobody has yet shown the cannabis clubs to be operating outside the law.  “Judges decide the law in this county,” said Loney, “not sheriffs, not district attorneys.”

Patients in Oregon are permitted to reimburse any cardholding grower for the supplies and expenses involved in producing medical marijuana, but reimbursement for labor is forbidden by law.  Cannabis clubs in Oregon claim to be operating on the principle of reimbursements and unsolicited donations.  Loney, speaking on local television news Thursday, said explicitly that these cannabis clubs are not selling.

Anna Diaz, a board member of Oregon NORML and NORML’s 2011 Pauline Sabin Award Winner, spoke to NORML SHOW LIVE and explained “Sensible Oregon”.  “It’s going to be an initiative like the ‘Sensible Washington’ one that will just remove marijuana from the criminal law, while still maintaining laws on DUI and not providing to children.”  Diaz said the initiative is still being conceived and written.  Once written, it will be circulated fo collect the one thousand signatures required in Oregon to begin official signature gathering.

If “Sensible Oregon” makes it to signature gathering, it will join the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act (OCTA) as initiatve petitions to legalize marijuana in Oregon.  OCTA has already completed the certification of ballot title and is currently gathering signatures.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) – Fees for registering with the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program will double, from $100 per year to $200 per year, due to a Budget Bill that passed out of the Joint Ways and Means Committee and into the main chambers late Wednesday. The increase in fees was included in one of the over 30 bills that the Committee “barreled through” on Wednesday.

Bob Wolfe, Director and Spokesperson for the Oregon Marijuana Policy Initiative (OMPI), agrees. He describes the increase in fees as a “de facto tax” and questioned those behind the increase. “Medical marijuana patients are ill, disabled, and often poor. This stealthy budget item is a de facto tax on vulnerable people. I’d like to know which scurrilous legislator or bureaucrat is responsible for this disgusting maneuver,” he said.

OMPI is a coalition of twelve large patient organizations, including Oregon Green Free, Mama’s, The Human Collective, and Oregon NORML, as well as many other independent advocates of medical marijuana. OMPI represents thousands of patients in Oregon, and has been active working at the legislature to protect Oregon Medical Marijuana Patients protection under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act.

While Oregon is slashing its many aspects of its budget, the Oregon Health Authority will receive an increase over current spending to its budget of nearly 11%, reports OregonLive. The increased fees for OMMP patients are expected to contribute about $7 million dollars over the biennium, and will go towards a program for drinking water and emergency medical services.

OregonLive further reports: “Conspicuously absent Wednesday was the public safety budget, which includes money to run state prisons. Lawmakers are still struggling for ways to stem the escalating cost of incarceration.”  Continue reading…

"Counter-culture" activists for NORML (L-R) Keith Stroup, Assem. Tom Ammiano, PBS Host Rick Steves... crazy hippies!

From time to time on blogs I read a complaint about NORML, like this one:

NORML hasn’t accomplish­ed anything since the disco era!  They haven’t done a damn thing in the last 30 years!  Paul A is the only good thing NORML has going; aside from him, this movement wouldn’t even notice if NORML ceased existing.

I will concur that Paul Armentano is an MVP All-Star in marijuana law reform.  You cannot find a person better educated on the science of marijuana.

But to conclude Paul is the “only good thing NORML has going” is to disparage the incredible work being done by hundreds of grassroots activists working in the NORML chapter network.  To wit:

More "counter-culture" activists with NORML

Chris Goldstein, Anne Davis, & NORML NJ – instrumental in negotiations with New Jersey lawmakers to bring about Gov. Corzine’s signature on the law making it the nation’s 15th medical marijuana state.

Derek Rosenzweig & PhillyNORML – uncovered and published research on Philadelphia’s racial bias in marijuana enforcement leading to a change in policy to end arrests of low level marijuana consumers in the city.

Another couple of "hippies"

Michigan NORML and MassCann/NORML laid the groundwork for 2008′s medical marijuana and decriminalization, respectively, in Michigan and Massachusetts by passing numerous municipal measures in support of marijuana.

Madeline Martinez and Oregon NORML led negotiations with lawmakers to set medical marijuana limits to 24 ounces and 24 plants, the highest statewide statutory limits in the nation (along with Washington State).

The "grass" in "grassroots" - so counter-culture!

Dale Gieringer, Bill Panzer, and California NORML helped co-author Prop 215 in California, worked for the clarifications found in SB420, worked with Assem. Ammiano to produce the first legalization bill in decades, helped shepherd the latest California decrim measure to Schwarzenegger’s desk, and are organizing with Prop 19′s leaders for a new legalization initiative in 2012.

Kandice Hawes and Orange County NORML held the nation’s first medical marijuana conference specifically for seniors… across the street from Disneyland!

No wonder "normal" people won't join... look at these two!

Mary Mackenzie (apologies for the original name misspell – I sure know what that’s like!), AZ4NORML, and Phoenix NORML were the foot soldiers gathering the signatures that got MPP’s Arizona Prop 203 on the ballot.

Kelly Maddy, Joplin NORML, Dan Viets, Missouri NORML, all worked in Missouri to pass lowest-law-enforcement and other municipal initiatives.

These guys have done nothing since the disco era...

Ben Masel, Gary Storck, Madison NORML all have lobbied intensively for the Jackie Rickert Medical Marijuana Act, moving it farther along in the legislative process every year.

Colorado NORML, Mile High NORML, have worked with SAFER on their initiatives, gathering signatures that lead to Denver’s legalization and other low-priority initiatives.

Obviously too tie-dyed and love-beaded to make any difference

Isaias Valdez and Idaho NORML are beginning the grassroots education and activism in one of the most anti-marijuana states in the nation; the state currently has a medical marijuana bill in the legislature and the group is following up with a citizen’s initiative.

John & Heather Masterson in Montana NORML, battling to mitigate the perception of abuse of medical marijuana created by unethical “ganjapreneurs” and most recenlty providing live coverage of the DEA raids in Montana.

Sure, they're doctors... but they're "pot" doctors!

Then there are the hundreds of attorneys who make up the NORML Legal Committee, who have donated thousands of hours of pro bono time helping average cannabis consumers avoid jail and retain voting rights, also working on new laws.  For example:

Jeff Blackburn, who kept an AIDS patient out of a Texas prison with an affirmative defense that a jury agreed with in only 11 minutes of deliberation.  The patients’ original public defender only offered a plea deal that would have meant six months of drug testing that would’ve left the patient without his medicine, wasting away.

And that whole "boobs and buds" issue turns women off to the cause...

Doug Hiatt, who fought for the life of Hep C patient Tim Garon, denied a liver transplant because his legal medical marijuana use in Washington State made him a “drug addict” in the eyes of the hospital.  Hiatt is now behind the Sensible Washington effort to fully legalize by citizen initiative.

Let’s not forget the national staff (like me) who constantly educate, advocate, interview, debate, advertise, litigate, lobby, and keep the conversation on marijuana legalization moving forward.

No wonder nobody wants to legalize pot - look at these people!

I’ve already written way too much for a comment and that is just reviewing my own memory of NORML Activism within the four years I’ve worked for NORML.  And remember, aside from the lawyers (sometimes), NONE of these activists made a single dime for performing these heroic acts.

As far as I’m concerned, all of the groups involved in marijuana law reform have an important role to play.  It’s like the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard – we have different jobs and different specializations in service of the same goal.  Sure, we have internecine grudges and rivalries.  Just as jarheads goad sailors, just as grunts tease flyboys, drug war reform groups may also grouse about each other, but when the rubber hits the road, we’re all fighting for the good ol’ U S of A.

For me personally, there are some important differences.  DPA is about drug policy – they think drug prohibition sucks.  MPP is about marijuana policy – they think marijuana prohibition sucks.  SAFER is about offering choice – they think alcohol sucks compared to marijuana.  ASA is about medical marijuana – they are silent on healthy people’s use.  LEAP is about cops’ expression of drug war failure – they think drug prohibition sucks.

NORML, of all the groups, is the one that doesn’t just think marijuana prohibition sucks, but that cannabis use is a positive.  We’re not just anti-prohibition, we’re pro-cannabis!

Finally, to the disparagement of the counter-culture you believe NORML represents: in actuality, most of our NORML Affiliate and Chapter leaders are far from what anyone would consider “hippie”.  Anne Davis, head of NORML NJ, is a successful attorney and mother of two.  Tonya Davis, head of Central Ohio NORML, is a disabled patient in a wheelchair.  Clif Deuvall, head of NORML of Waco Texas, is a disabled veteran.  Isaias Valdez, head of Idaho NORML, is a clean-cut college student.  I can’t speak to what you may have seen from NORML in the 1980′s or 90′s, but I know since my involvement I have never met a better representative group of average cannabis consumers.  In my tenure, we have instituted sixty new state, local, and college affiliates, so it seems to me plenty of people are eager to organize under the NORML banner.

There is a drug reform group for everyone.  I don’t care what acronym you want to associate with so long as you’re on this side of the battle over prohibition.  But to dismiss and disparage NORML’s role in the war is to vilify the most committed activists in the battle – the ones not doing it for some billionaire’s largess.  If you think someone might not support ending prohibition because someone in a NORML T-shirt might have long hair, piercings, or tattoos, then you aren’t very good at illustrating the need to end the drug war.

Russ Belville

NORML Outreach Coordinator

P.S. If you really want to know what is going on in grassroots reform, check out the podcasts from all around the nation and even England at The NORML Network – http://live.norml.org

Oregon’s Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) is so successful that other states are copying their policies.

(Seattle Times) Washington state has no medical marijuana patient registry, but the Legislature is considering following Oregon’s lead as part of a sweeping overhaul bill pending in Olympia.

Patients in Washington are anxious about the proposed registry, seeing it as an invasion of privacy and a tempting tool for police, who strongly favor it, reports Jonathan Martin at The Seattle Times. Reflecting those fears, the current proposal in Washington calls for a voluntary registry.

But Oregon’s 11-year experience with a mandatory registry has resulted in patient advocates, police, attorneys and health-care professionals describing it as the least controversial part of the Beaver State’s medical marijuana law.

“I’ve been preaching this to my colleagues in Washington: A registry can protect you,” said Madeline Martinez, executive director of Oregon NORML. “Every state should have one.”  In Oregon, a patient whose physician recommends medical marijuana must enroll and pay the $100 yearly registry fee to gain protection from arrest or unwarranted searches of a home or grow site.  Membership has almost doubled from 23,114 in 2008 to 41,407 in 2010. Nearly 25 percent of Oregon’s doctors have  patient on the medical marijuana registry.

The registry is helpful because it allows police to quickly tell if a medical marijuana patient is legitimate, said Lt. Ted Phillips of the Oregon State Patrol’s narcotics section. Police can access the registry through a secure data link only to confirm a patient’s qualification, not to fish for names.

It's always 4:20 at the Cannabis Café

Just a quick reminder that later today I will be streaming live from the Oregon NORML Cardholders Meeting at the World Famous Oregon NORML Cannabis Café.  Stream begins at 11am Pacific and meeting begins at Noon.  Speakers include Madeline Martinez and Anna Diaz from Oregon NORML, NORML Legal Committee attorneys Paul Loney and John Lucy IV, Iva Cunningham from Alternative Medical Choices clinic (a local medical cannabis specialist), and me, Russ Belville.

At the meeting, registered medical marijuana patients and their caregivers and growers meet to hear the latest in news and activism from Oregon NORML.  New members receive a plant clone (seedling) to begin their garden if they choose and any medicine donated to Oregon NORML for the meeting is divvied up and distributed for no consideration to the cardholders in attendance.

There are also free raffles for any vegetating plants that are donated, as well as things like t-shirts, hats, pipes, grow equipment, and books.  Following the speeches and the raffles, patients are allowed to medicate while networking with other patients, caregivers, and growers.  Oregon NORML encourages people to meet and form patient-caregiver-grower relationships, but Oregon NORML cannot be responsible for arranging those relationships due to liability concerns.

You can watch the meeting on our brand new live Stickam Player in the header of this website.  I had been receiving complaints that the new player “auto plays” so whenever you pull up the Stash, you get bombarded with sound – not cool if you’re reading at work!  Also, even when you mute the player, you’re still streaming, so it hogs up the bandwidth!

Just as I was set to delete the player, yesterday I find that Stickam completely changed their user interface.  It turns out they also changed their embeddable players, and now the one I have embedded at the top does not auto-play or auto-stream!  Yay!  So if you want to watch the show, hover your mouse on the screen and click “Play Live”.  If you want to get into chat, you have to click the NORML SHOW LIVE link in the top left corner.  That takes you to the main Stickam page, and from there you have to click the “pop-out” button on the player.

Finally, I’m happy to announce that this month we had our 2,000,000th hit on the Stash.  I guess you could call that “chronic” use, huh?  We’ve had almost 800,000 hits in 2010 and we’ve had over 1,000,000 hits over the past twelve months.  And we’re still smokin’!

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By Michael Bachara, Hemp News

Inspiration was in the air on Sunday, September 19th at the 19th Annual Susan G. Komen “Race for the Cure” in Waterfront Park in downtown Portland. It is estimated that over 40,000 people, including over 3,500 breast cancer survivors, walked, raced and ran, bringing awareness and raising millions in the name of breast cancer research.

Showing their pride as the emcee acknowledged their participation, about a dozen walkers on the streets were from the Oregon Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Their slogan was: “It’s NORML to Race for the Cure”.

“This is Oregon NORML’s first year to have a team in the race. As a team, we are going to do the untimed one-mile walk.” stated, Anna Diaz of Oregon NORML.

“We want to inspire and challenge other NORML chapters to participate in their community’s race. We walk for all NORML members and their families who are fighting or have fought breast cancer. I am very proud of our team this afternoon,” said another NORML team member. “With the determination I saw from this community, it’s only a matter of time before a cure is found.”

This event is an educational outreach and often spiritual pilgrimage, packaged with a serious effort to battle the epidemic of breast cancer within our society. To date, the Oregon NORML team has raised over $1,400.00 for the cause, money that will help women across the state have access to free mammograms. Part of the key to fighting breast cancer is early detection, and providing access is a positive step forward.

Komen partners with the States of Oregon and Washington to fund free screening programs for individuals with limited incomes and who are uninsured or under-insured and who are:

1) In Oregon, women who are 50-64 years old
2) Women under 50 with symptoms that may indicate breast cancer
3) Men of all ages with symptoms that may indicate breast cancer (Oregon only)
4) In Washington, women who are 40-64 years of age who meet eligibility criteria.

To find out if you qualify and obtain an appointment:
• Oregon residents: 1.877.255.7070
• SW Washington residents: 1.800.992.1817

The Susan G. Komen Foundation is dedicated to the fight against breast cancer. You can donate in the name of the ‘NORML People’ team through the Susan G. Komen website.

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The exquisite 4,000-sq-ft facility is now open for all OMMP Patients for just $10

In order to better serve the Oregon medical cannabis community, Oregon NORML’s Cannabis Cafe will be open for all Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) cardholders beginning Saturday, August 21, 2010. The cafe is open from 10am to 10pm Monday through Saturday at 322 SE 82nd Ave in Portland 97216. One-day passes are available for $10 to all OMMP cardholders with proper proof of current OMMP registration and ID. This one-day pass is valid for the date stamped only and does not constitute cafe membership.

Free pool (8- and 9-ball), free shuffleboard, free air hockey, free jukebox, free hi-def big screen cable / Blu-Ray, free hi-speed wi-fi, free library, free darts, free Xbox & Wii network gaming... oh, and free bud to smoke or vaporize while you play!

Cafe memberships continue to be available to Oregon NORML members only for $20.00 per month with a $5.00 door fee. Oregon NORML membership is still only $35.00 per year and is always available at the door.

I’ve been a big supporter of the Cannabis Café and I still enjoy the thrill I get seeing someone come downstairs to the Café for the first time. “It’s so big! It’s so classy! Nobody’s got a smoking lounge like this!” are just some of the things people say. Many of the regulars from the former café location are finding their way back to the new spot and it is good to see so many old friends return.