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Feds Investigate State Pot Law
Newshawk: The Hemp & Cannabis Foundation www.hemp.org
Pubdate: Sat, 23 Mar 2002
Source: Oregonian, The (OR)
Copyright: 2002 The Oregonian
Contact: letters@news.oregonian.com
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/324
Author: Don Colburn
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n457/a06.html
Bookmarks: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
http://www.mapinc.org/people/Mark+Souder
http://www.mapinc.org/area/Oregon
FEDS INVESTIGATE STATE POT LAW
The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, is
looking into Oregon's medical marijuana program for undisclosed reasons.
"It's a little baffling, and it's an uncomfortable kind of
bafflement," said Mary Leverette, acting manager of Oregon's
3-year-old medical marijuana program.
The clash of federal intervention against controversial state laws is
much on Oregonians' minds -- and in their courtrooms -- these days.
Lawyers for the state faced off Friday against the Bush administration
in federal court in Portland over a move by U.S. Attorney General John
Ashcroft to crack down on Oregon doctors who participate in a
doctor-assisted suicide under the state's Death With Dignity Act.
Oregon's Medical Marijuana Act, approved by voters in 1998, raises
"another states' rights issue," Leverette said. "Is that rearing its
ugly head?"
When Leverette met with GAO staff last month, she broached that
question -- to no avail.
"I raised it, and got no comment, no facial expression, nothing,"
Leverette said. "You would think they practiced in front of the mirror."
GAO investigators interviewed Leverette, state public health officer
Dr. Grant Higginson and Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Noelle, as well
as district attorneys and federal Drug Enforcement Administration
agents in Portland.
Leverette said she was told the nature and genesis of the inquiry were
confidential. Reviewers disclosed only that they were looking at
medical marijuana programs in four states -- Oregon, California,
Colorado and Hawaii -- to see how they prevented abuse. Nine states
have medical marijuana laws.
The GAO report was requested by Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., chairman of
the House subcommittee on criminal justice, drug policy and human
resources. Both the GAO and subcommittee staff declined comment.
Two GAO reviewers and an auditor came to Oregon in mid-February
and interviewed state officials about the medical marijuana law, its rules,
the application process and the numbers of patients and doctors involved.
The state released the numbers - but no names - of applicants, cardholders
and authorizing physicians, Leverette said. Participants were identified by
age, gender, diagnosis and county of residence. Counties with five or fewer
cardholders were lumped together to preserve patient's anonymity.
As of Feb. 19, the day Leverette was questioned, there were 1,691 medical
marijuana cardholders in Oregon. Those applications collectively were
endorsed by 434 doctors - about 5 percent of the state's licensed physicians.
One doctor has authorized far more marijuana cardholders than any other:
Dr. Phillip Leveque, 79, an osteopath in Mollala.
Leveque has signed a three-year total of 1,642 applications for medical
marijuana - 41 percent of Oregon's cardholders. Although state health
officials did not name Leveque, he confirmed that he is the physician at
the top of the list of authorizing doctors.
"I'm certainly the best known doctor in Oregon - for the wrong reasons,"
Leveque said.
Leveque is under investigation by the state Board of Medical Examiners for
authorizing medical marijuana cards for hundreds of patients he never saw.
In response to a formal complaint by the board, Leveque has requested a
hearing, but none has been scheduled.
The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act allows adult residents to grow and use
limited amounts of marijuana for medical purposes. A doctor must verify
that a patient has a "debilitating medical condition" such as cancer,
glaucoma, AIDS or severe pain.
Advocates of medical marijuana worry that the GAO review signals a
crackdown by federal drug agents against people who grow or use pot for
medical purposes.
"I'd like to think it's because Congress is interested in bringing the
federal law in line with the states that have changed their laws (to allow
medical use of marijuana)," said John Sajo, director of Voter Power, an
advocacy group. "But I doubt that's the case."
Web links:
Oregon Public Health Services' Medical Marijuana Program:
http://www.ohd.hr.state.or.us/oaps/mm/welcome.htm
Video archive of Dr. Phillip Leveque's weekly TV show, Cannabis Common
Sense: http://www.crrh.org/hemptv/video_ccs.html
Voter Power: http://www.voterpower.org
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
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