By Amy Sienicki
 
November 5, 2009
 
NEAR ROGUE RIVER, Ore. - Medical marijuana is becoming more prevalent on the West Coast.
 
In 2000, there were only 600 cardholders in Oregon. As of October of this year, almost 24,000 people hold medical marijuana cards. In California there were 10,144 valid card holders according to September numbers.
 
Under Oregon law, any MD or DO, Doctor of Osteopathy, can recommend medical marijuana to a patient.
In California, any doctor licensed by the California Medical Board or the Osteopathic Board of California can recommend medical marijuana.
 
"I think that all of these illegal growers who are taking advantage of the system that we have, they're giving the regular growers who are following the law and abiding by the letter of the law a bad name and giving medical marijuana in itself a bad name," said Medical Marijuana Patient Melissa Fritts with the Rogue River Herbal Pain Management Center.
 
The Oregon High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, HIDTA, says medical marijuana is abused extensively in the state.
 
"Most people have well over the legal amount of plants. You see cases where people have medical marijuana and they're selling it at street prices as opposed to giving it to patients as medicine," said Travis Snyder with the Josephine County Sheriff's Office.
 
Fritts says she sees the benefits of medical marijuana first hand.
 
"For me, I was taking prescription pain medications three to four times a day. And I have younger kids, so it was hard for me to be able to get up off the couch and perform my daily functions as a parent when I'm loaded on prescription pain pills," Fritts said.
 
Fritts started using marijuana when she was 19 to help alleviate her back pain.
 
"I started smoking, and within 15 minutes felt instant relief. And I have a really bad back and really bad sciatic pain as well as many other things, but that's mostly what I use it for... and it is a muscle relaxer, anti-inflammatory, a pain reliever, and it provides all of that for me," Fritts said.
 
Oregonians can get a medical marijuana card if they have a qualifying condition, which includes cancer, severe pain and HIV.
 
"The only things that aren't covered by the program right now are what the program terms as mental illnesses. Things like bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression, ADD, ADHD," Fritts said.
 
The next push from the medical marijuana community in Oregon is to legalize dispensaries. Right now there are a number of medical marijuana clinics in the state where people can see a doctor and get a medical marijuana recommendation, but clinics cannot actually sell the medicine.
 
"Under Oregon law right now, it says that you are not allowed to sell or dispense marijuana, and so it kind of leaves patients who are new to the program or can't grow it for themselves, it kind of leaves them exposed as to 'where do I go to get the medicine?'" Fritts said.
 
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Southern Oregon is collecting signatures for a ballot initiative that would legalize dispensaries in the state. It's called I-28, and it proposes a state supervised supply program to help patients get marijuana without having to grow it themselves.
 
"I think that there's no way to stop the progression of medical marijuana. It goes back forever. So I think that the more we embrace it, and the more we take advantage of the fact that it is becoming legal, the better off we'll be because we'll be able to make money off it legally and sustain ourselves as a state," Fritts said.
 
Sustainability and profitability are two of the driving forces behind some of the proposals to further legalize marijuana in California.
 
State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a San Francisco Democrat, is trying to put marijuana on the same playing field as alcohol. He wants it legalized, sold and taxed. Ammiano says it's "nonsensical" that California's largest cash crop is unregulated and untaxed when the golden state is struggling to survive financially.
 
The Green Heart Collective in Mt. Shasta has only been open a couple months, but it already has nearly 400 members.
 
"I'm sure it will lower the prices on everything, but it's already expensive anyway. I think it would be a good thing. I'm not sure what all the legal ramifications would be for it, but it would definitely be good," said Cathy Brasch with the Green Heart Collective.
 
However, local law enforcement says medical marijuana gardens are targets for crime.
 
"Violent assaults, kidnaps, robberies, things of that nature," Snyder said.
 
Snyder says there's no system of checks and balances for medical marijuana.
 
"For instance, you could be driving by and see them standing over a fence. But they don't have to allow you on their property to see the plants and make sure they're within the legal limit," Snyder said.
 
Which makes it difficult for police to ensure cardholders are abiding by the law.
 
Later this month, two cannabis lounges for medical marijuana patients will open in Portland. They will be the first public places where medical marijuana patients can socialize and use pot.