Posted on 10/24/2002 11:02:41 PM PDT by hoosierskypilot
The daylight basement in Leroy Stubblefield's Sweet Home area house seems an unlikely battlefield for America's war on drugs.
Stubblefield, a 52-year-old quadriplegic, and two of his caregivers were growing 12 marijuana plants in his basement in a state-licensed operation until Sept. 23, when a federal drug agent seized them in a drug raid. No one was arrested.
It is thought to be the first time in Oregon that federal authorities have overstepped state law -- which allows cultivation of marijuana for personal medicinal purposes under a $150 annual license -- and raided a marijuana growing operation.
Kevin Neely, spokesman for the Oregon attorney general's office, said the seizure raises an unfortunate conflict between state and federal law.
Neely said the U.S. Department of Justice has traditionally not taken an interest in these small grow operations but ultimately they do have jurisdiction and are within the scope of the law to bust Oregon medical marijuana patients.
"They can't be prosecuted under Oregon law," Neely said, "but they could be prosecuted under federal law."
In 1998, Oregon voters approved the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, and about 3,600 people have a medical card to grow marijuana in the state. Voters in California, Arizona, Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Nevada and Washington approved similar ballot initiatives, and the Legislature in Hawaii passed a law allowing the use of medical marijuana.
The federal government, however, does not recognize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes and still classifies it as a drug.
Stubblefield was home with two of his caregivers, Steve Russell, 46, and Clarence VanDehay, 48, when members of a local drug enforcement team showed up at his front door shortly after noon. They said they had received a tip he was growing 100 marijuana plants and asked to see them.
Stubblefield, who was in bed, consented. Stubblefield, Russell and VanDehay all have licenses to grow marijuana. The state allows license holders to grow three mature plants and four immature plants.
After checking out the marijuana plants, Linn County Sheriff's Lt. Will McAnulty said, local law officers concluded that the operation was in compliance with state law.
But a Drug Enforcement Administration agent accompanying the local officers said he was going to seize the plants under federal law.
Ken Magee, an assistant special agent in charge of Oregon's DEA operations, said it's a violation of federal law to possess, manufacture or cultivate marijuana. He said it's not a new policy that federal agents will seize marijuana plants grown for personal medicinal uses.
"We're not looking at this as a matter of policy, it's a matter of federal law," Magee said. "The U.S. government doesn't recognize marijuana as a medicine. It's a drug. Even our own U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that there's no medicinal value in marijuana."
(Excerpt) Read more at oregonlive.com ...
Too bad that this US LE is not directed to Islamic terrorists
and illegal alien murderers.
Get a job abd go bust some crack dealer
"No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him." --Thomas Jefferson to Francis Gilmer, 1816. ME 15:24
If you think you've been harmed by a person's drug possession take the person to court and do your best to prove to an impartial jury that you had been hammed by that. You'd be lucky to convince a third of the jurors that you had been harmed by the defendant -- let alone convince all twelve jurors, which you'd need to obtain a guilty verdict.
Some people on this forum want to impose their communitarian beliefs on people by initiating force, threat of force or fraud against people or enlist government agents to initiate force, threat of force and fraud on their behalf.
As a rule I keep my mouth shut on WOD articles. Once in awhile I must stick my chicken neck out.
Sweet Jesus!!! A paraplegic? America is under attach, it's going to get much more intense. A paraplegic??? We are doomed.
When my dad was going through chemo he also had both. Marinol (the synthetic version) worked marginally, and the the real thing worked quite well. Your mileage may differ.
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