I was asked if I would be interested in writing a piece regarding Measure 74 (medical marijuana dispensaries) and, since I am a glutton for punishment, I said yes. As you will see, my reasons against it aren’t the reasons you might think.

Here are just some of the issues with the current law and Measure 74:

Twelve years ago, voters were initially told “medical marijuana” was going to be a program for the sick and dying (cancer/glaucoma patients), but currently less than 4 percent of the card holders are using medical marijuana for cancer, and more than 88 percent are listed for common pain. In this county alone, we have 18 and 20 year olds getting marijuana cards for chronic pain.

While Measure 74 states distribution centers have to be at least a quarter-mile from schools, it doesn’t say anything about the (marijuana) grow sites, which can be located next to libraries, churches, youth clubs, swimming pools, day cares and parks.

This measure allows each center and grow site to possess 24 plants and 96 ounces (5.9 pounds) of dried marijuana. If everyone was given the maximum allowed marijuana according to Measure 74, it would take thousands of distribution centers and grow sites around the state of Oregon to provide that amount just for the current 36,380 card holders.

The smell of marijuana in growers’ backyards is starting disputes in neighborhoods. Home burglaries and robberies are also happening at these locations. We are already handling these types of calls, and it is predicted they will worsen in the future.

The centers’ directors/employees must be Oregon residents, but there is no previous or duration of residency required. In one day, you can move to Oregon and start in the business.

Felony crimes such as violence or theft within the last five years bars participation in a distribution center, however, drug-related felonies are not mentioned. This could allow a person with drug-related felony convictions to operate the grow site or center.

Measure 74 is so poorly written, it does not address any problems with the current medical marijuana program. Measure 74 will not infringe on a cardholder’s ability to produce their own marijuana, or designate a person responsible for the marijuana grow site. In-home growers and existing caregiver growers will continue to go unregulated and unchecked, continuing to create problems for law enforcement and diverting resources that must deal with the existing abuses. (It should be noted that not one grow site the Sheriff’s Office has been advised of, or located this year, has been in compliance with the current law.)

The current medical marijuana program is out of control. This measure does nothing to help fix these issues, and only adds more ambiguity to the problem. Law enforcement and the Department of Human Services do not have the resources or the ability to regulate the current program, let alone a new, more complicated and ambiguous problem.

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