Medical Privilege Creates Corruption: Marijuana Speech #12

12^th speech in this series to the Josephine County Commissioners, August 19, 2009.  

Since I spoke to you last week, we have heard that the Legislature passed a law allowing the growing of industrial hemp on June 29th.  If you don’t pass this Resolution soon, it may well become anti-climactic.  Oregon is the 8th state to allow the growing of hemp.  The Supreme Court ruled in San Diego v California that the federal government has no authority to override state marijuana laws, which is why California is considering full legalization of marijuana.

Last week, I spoke about the fact that medical marijuana statutes create a privilege based on ill health.  The following reason is:

“WHEREAS medical marijuana statutes create plentiful opportunities for illicit profit by privileged card holders and their growers, fraud and theft against card holders, and confusion among law enforcement personnel….”

Some people in this state are privileged to grow medical marijuana for their personal use or the use of others.   Because plants vary in how much they produce, they are allowed to grow up to 6 mature plants, which can produce, when they grow well, far more than the person is entitled to possess.  Under the law, one has to share it with another privileged person—for free—or destroy it.  Almost nobody has the heart to destroy herb that sells for up to $300 per ounce, or to give it away for free, so people sell it.  It is no great stretch for people who have bought their medicine illegally for many years, to illegally sell the same.

Many people privileged to use marijuana cannot grow it at their residence, either because they do not own it, or because it would not be safe to do so.  So they contract with someone else to grow it for them.  Again, although the law calls for one to grow for others out of the kindness of one’s heart, and not to use it or sell it, this is rightly ignored, and growers sell excess medical marijuana on the black market to make profit on their production, and, of course, use it themselves.

People are growing more openly, and reporting to the police when their plants or pot are ripped off.  This happened before, but people were afraid to call the cops.

And police are not likely anymore to investigate small grows that are under the limits for medical use; they may well be legal, and cops have better things to do than bust small growers.  They have better things to do than to bust big growers on their own land as well. 

This last two are good things.  But things would be far better if we removed the privilege from growing marijuana for personal use.  It would break the black market for pot within this state.

Rycke Brown, Natural Gardener               541-955-9040      rycke@gardener.com