Oregon House Bill Would Have Drastically Changed Oregon Medical Marijuana Rules
As anyone that follows Oregon politics or at least follows Oregon marijuana politics, a very nasty bill was introduced in the Oregon House last year. Luckily, this thing died because it would have drastically altered the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP). However, just because it died in the House last year doesn’t mean that it won’t be resurrected in the future. I don’t think it will come up in the shortened session this year, but you never know.
I’m on an e-mail list with Oregon medical marijuana activists, and a lot of us are talking about how we would fight this legislation if it came up again. It seemed like when it was introduced last year, it was done very hastily and didn’t allow a lot of time for us to gather our thoughts and look at all strategy options. It’s my fear that if it comes up again, and gets more time to marinate around the capital in Salem, it could actually get passed. As a result, I am putting up this article now, so that people can read what might be coming in the future, and get the discussion going about what we should do to best combat any attack on the OMMP. The e-mail group has already been discussing it a lot as I said, but this way it can be open to all readers, both Oregon and beyond. Just because someone doesn’t live in Oregon, doesn’t mean that they don’t have good ideas, so I encourage all to comment.
Summary of changes from the Oregon NORML Website
-Person responsible for a grow site must be 21 years of age
-Caregiver must be 21 years of age
-National background checks required for all growers and caregivers, with a 5-year exclusion for manufacture or delivery of a Schedule I or II substance, either in Oregon or the equivalent in another jurisdiction;
-requires an additional background check each time a caregiver’s name is submitted;
-Authorizes an additional fee for each background check
-Allows the OHA to impose a fee for registering a grow site
-Limits patient participation to Oregon residents
-Specifies that attending physician must document that the use of medical marijuana “will” provide therapeutic value
-Allows OHA to demand additional information from caregiver applicants, to be determined by rule
-Changes the terms under which minors can participate in the program
-Attending physician must specialize in the treatment of children
-Must resubmit updated physician documentation every three months
-Changes the terms of law enforcement access to the patient registry
-Requires Oregon Health Authority to provide Oregon State Police a list of registered marijuana grow sites once per quarter
-Requires release of cardholder information to law enforcement upon request, without providing a reason for the database access
Here’s the text Of House Bill 3664:
