Marijuana Blog

Sixteen states, as well as the District of Columbia, have legalized the use of medical marijuana. A statewide group is looking to take it a step further, however, and legalize all marijuana use in Missouri.

A group of about 65 volunteers have been hitting the streets in St. Joseph, looking for supporters of Show-Me Cannabis, an association that seeks to legalize and regulate marijuana use in the state. Missouri’s Secretary of State requires 150,000 signatures on a statewide petition by May 6 in order for a legalization measure to appear on November’s ballot.

Amber Langston, campaign director for Show-Me Cannabis, said they have about 12,000 signatures from across the state on hand, but expect there are more signatures that volunteers have yet to turn in.

“We have around 1,000 petitioners, and we just launched an online volunteer training, so we anticipate things to continue to ramp up,” she said.

Bart Brower, field director in St. Joseph, said the group of local volunteers meets at the East Hills Library every Saturday to discuss the initiative and to strategize ways to garner support.

Those volunteers range from people 18 years old to 60; Mr. Brower himself is 45 and does not smoke cannabis, he said. He’s also seen a range of supporters, from college kids to an elderly woman who said she would support legalization if marijuana would help her arthritis.

“This is not the stereotypical hippie movement any more,” he said. “People are ready for change.”

Their weekly meetings are also educational opportunities for volunteers, as well as for the public. On Saturday, Betty Taylor, the former police chief in Winfield, Mo., discussed her view of marijuana prohibition, as well as that of the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, of which she is a member.

“We’ve had 40 years to prove that the war on drugs has succeeded, and it hasn’t; it’s failed. Miserably,” she said.

Ms. Taylor, who is now a professor of criminal justice, said law enforcement should be focusing on other, more violent crimes, such as rape and murder. She said she teaches her students that marijuana was made illegal through fear-mongering, but the drug has not proved to be an initiator of violence in the 70 years it has been illegal.

A representative from the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force could not be reached for comment on the initiative. However, the Drug Enforcement Administration has released several papers on its view on marijuana legalization.

“Drug abuse, and this nation’s response to it, is one of the most important and potentially dangerous issues facing American citizens — and especially its youth — today,” says one of its papers, “Speaking Out Against Drug Legalization.”

The DEA presents its top 10 facts on legalization, the first stating that the War on Drugs has caused overall drug use to decrease by more than a third in the last 20 years.

Additionally, the paper argues that drug prevention needs to have a balance of enforcement and treatment for it to be successful and that, unless enforced, drug use and violence will continue to go hand in hand.

The Show-Me Cannabis initiative suggests Missouri voters approve marijuana regulation that is similar to alcohol regulation. Users would have to be 21 or over; anyone looking to sell marijuana would need a license; and any marijuana grown for personal use would be limited to a 10-by-10-foot plot. There is also wording that allows medical marijuana to be prescribed by doctors and agricultural hemp to be cultivated by farmers.

Marijuana would also be taxed like alcohol and cigarettes — in the case of cannabis the group suggests $100 per pound — which would create additional income for Missouri, supporters say.

The Show-Me Cannabis initiative meets at East Hills Library every Saturday between 2 and 4 p.m., and is looking for volunteers or donations.

PORTLAND, Ore. —

Twice in the past two years, Gary Storck has boarded Amtrak's Empire Builder outside his hometown of Madison, Wis., and headed west to Oregon. The trip takes about 40 hours and costs more than $1,000 - all for something that makes the illegal legal.

He pays a visit to one of the state's 15 or so medical marijuana clinics, fills out an application and sees a doctor. Storck walks out an hour later, the proud holder of an Oregon-issued medical marijuana card. It's a process he'll have to go through each year to keep the card.

Storck, 56, is one of hundreds of out-of-staters who each year make an unusual pilgrimage to Oregon - the only state in the country to issue medical marijuana cards to non-residents.

"It's not a bad place to visit," said Storck, who has used marijuana for four decades to treat glaucoma and other chronic ailments. "It lifts my spirits to be in a place where medical cannabis is legal and life goes on."

Some users of medical marijuana go through the effort to acquire an Oregon card because it allows them to use the drug legally when they're in the state. Others hope it provides some legal protection if they're arrested in a state where medical marijuana is outlawed. Many out-of-staters see an Oregon card as important recognition that their use of the drug is legally recognized somewhere in the United States.

Since June 2010, when the state started issuing cards to non-residents, nearly 600 out-of-staters have traveled here to obtain one, according to the Oregon Health Authority, the agency that oversees the state's medical marijuana program. And while it's a small number compared with those issued to Oregonians - 72,000 in-state residents got cards during that period - it's a notable development for medical marijuana advocates and those who rely on the drug for medication.

People who live in states that outlaw the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes say they're relieved to have their use of the drug legally recognized - even if their home state does not. And for those who travel to Oregon for work or to see friends and family, a state-issued medical marijuana card offers legal protection from arrest and prosecution while here.

The most out-of-state applications for Oregon medical marijuana cards - 309 - came from Washington residents. Idaho came in second with 138, California third with 50.

"There are patients who live in California and Washington or Idaho for that matter ... who travel to Oregon to visit friends and family and ought not be interfered with because they are possessing their medicine," said Leland Berger, a Portland lawyer and medical marijuana advocate.

It was a 2010 case that Berger argued before the Oregon Court of Appeals that ultimately prompted the state to drop residency requirements from its medical marijuana program. The court upheld a California man's conviction for marijuana possession but in its opinion noted that access to medical treatment is a protected right of all citizens traveling from state to state.

The appellate ruling prompted the Oregon Attorney General to issue an opinion clarifying the state's residency requirements for a medical marijuana cards: Anyone can obtain a medical marijuana card in Oregon as long as the person has seen an Oregon-licensed physician who's diagnosed a qualifying illness and suggests marijuana as treatment.

Sixteen states and Washington, D.C., have laws permitting the use of medical marijuana. Five of those states - Michigan, Maine, Montana, Rhode Island and Arizona - will honor Oregon's medical marijuana card.

California, the first state in the country to legalize marijuana for medicinal use, only issues medical marijuana identification cards to California residents. However, state law allows California-licensed doctors to issue recommendations for medical marijuana to out-of-staters. Those recommendations allow a person to legally use the drug in California.

Keith Stroup, an attorney and founder of Norml, a national group that advocates the legalization of marijuana, said he expects most states with medical marijuana programs will eventually drop their residency requirements.

But he and other attorneys and marijuana activists said an Oregon card offers virtually no legal protection outside of Oregon's borders.

"I mean it's significant in the sense that it's progressive and fairly liberal compared to other states. However, it doesn't really provide patients with protection once they leave Oregon," said Kris Hermes, spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, a national group advocating for medical marijuana laws.

Don Skakie, 52, of Renton, Wash., got an Oregon medical marijuana card so he can travel through Oregon without worrying about getting arrested. A union glazier and medical marijuana activist, Skakie is authorized to use medical marijuana in Washington and California, too.

"I have some work down here," he said, referring to Oregon. "But if I was to be pulled over, my Washington authorization would not be recognized as valid. I need to be recognized as a patient so I don't go off to jail."

Skakie, who uses medical marijuana to treat chronic back pain, said even with authorization in three states, he's cautious about traveling with the drug and discreet about using it. He said he recently helped move his sister from California to Missouri.

"I still had my medicine with me on that trip and medicated as I needed to but I was certainly hiding in the shadows and being extremely cautious," he said.

Storck, the medical marijuana activist in Wisconsin, which doesn't have a medical marijuana program, carries his Oregon card with him wherever he goes even though it isn't likely to offer him much legal protection.

"To be able to have at least one state say, `Yes, we accept that you are a patient,' means so much to me," he said. "It was worth the trip to be recognized as a patient. I have been fighting my whole entire adult life for my medicine. My own home state, where I was born, won't recognize that."

A map of Oregon hangs in his home, a reminder that his marijuana use is legal here.

"I am really thankful to Oregon," Storck said. "I am legal in every inch of that state and that is a beautiful thought for me."

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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com