Paul Stanford of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation in Oregon discusses his history as a marijuana legalization activist, beginning with becoming the NORML coordinator for Washington State in 1982, his association with Jack Herer beginning in 1984, the current state of medical marijuana and the movement in Oregon, and the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act 2012.
Broadcasting Sundays, 6-8 PM Pacific, on Free Radio Santa Cruz 101.1 FM. Streaming live on the internet at www.freakradio.org
0:14 â About 1996 Lanny Swerdlow contacted Stanford to do a show about marijuana, Cannabis Common Sense. Stanford had been in Portland since 1984. Just did show #596. October will be their 15th anniversary. Tried to run OCTA 3 times in 1990s. Each time they got about 50%-60% of the signatures needed to get the initiative on the ballot. Casper Leitch started doing cable access programming in early 90s.
0:19 â The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF), of which Stanford is owner, grossed $4 million last year.
0:23 â 1982 Stanford began correspondence with Kevin Zeese, and he became coordinator for Washington state NORML office. Zeese was national director of NORML at the time. 1984 met Jack Herer in L.A. Stanford moved to Oregon in August of 1984 to work on the legalization initiative. Herer moved to Oregon in October. They qualified in 1985 to be on the ballot in 1986, losing by a large margin.
0:31 â Stanford filed The Oregon Cannabis Control Act in 1990 but did not follow through. Filed again in 1994, 1996, and 1998. They got about 50%-60% of the signatures required to make the ballot. These were volunteer signature gathering campaigns. Oregon Medical Marijuana Act passed in 1998. Americans for Medical Rights, Dave Fratello, was primarily responsible for the wording of the medical marijuana initiative. Funded by Peter Lewis, John Sperling, and George Soros.
In Oregon, in 1997 there was a move to recriminalize simple possession marijuana passed by 70% of the legislature and signed by the governor, Oregon was the first state to decriminalize simple possession in 1973, making possession of less than an ounce an infraction.
Stanford turned in 90,000 signatures to stop that law from going into effect. The initiative to invalidate recrimilazation was on the same ballot as the medical marijuana initiative in 1998.
0:41 â In 2003 Oregon Medical Marijuana Act was amended by legislature to increase limit to 24 plants and 24 ounces. 18 of those plants have to be less than a foot tall. Prior to this the limit was an ounce if the patient was not growing. If the patient was growing it was 3 mature plants, 4 immature plants, and an ounce of bud. Prior to this change a patient had an affirmative defense which means if they had more than the limits they had a right to demonstrate the amount was required to meet their needs. Patients in Oregon no longer have an affirmative defense if they are arrested for exceeding the limits of 24 plants and 24 ounces.
Oregon is a short-list state. Conditions other than those specified in Oregon Medical Marijuana Act must be approved by committee. This committee has stone-walled any attempt to add additional conditions for over ten years.
0:50 â Oregon has three types of cards: patient, caregiver, and grower. Every patient gets a patient card, a grower card, and the patient can also designate a caregiver. A âgrowerâ can only grow for 4 patients. There is a limit on the number of caregivers. A caregiver can do anything a grower can do. Stanford is a caregiver for 30 patients. (I never was told what the limit on caregivers was.)
Oregon Medical Marijuana Act also prohibited smoking in public. Last year Oregon legislature directed the board of pharmacy to reschedule marijuana between schedule 2 and 5. First state to reschedule cannabis on the state Controlled Substances Schedule, to Schedule 2. Dispensaries are not legal in Oregon.
0:57 â Hawaii still has 3 mature plant, 4 immature, 3 ounce limits and is administered by the Narcotics Enforcement Division of the Hawaii police. Stanford has an office in Hawaii.
1:00 â Oregon Cannabis Tax Act 2012. Stanford discusses levels of law, explaining that the âwhereasesâ are there to give the initiative a legal foundation in international law and constitutional law, and sovereign law. International & constitutional law are of equal weight or authority. Sovereign law, or natural rights, trumps international & constitutional law. They began drafting this initiative in the 1980s with these concepts in mind.
Unlike any other initiative, The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act 2012 explicitly addresses the legal underpinning of the initiative.
1:18 â Stanford: "Once this is legal I donât see why anyone would go out and get a medical marijuana card. You should be able to grow your own without any license whatsoever and posses as much as you want without any artificial limit. You only need a permit for selling.â
1:26 â The government could drive a battleship through this if they were out to get you.
474.005 Definitions. (1) âAbuseâ means repetitive or excessive drug use such that the individual fails to fulfill a statutory or common law duty, including but not limited to the duties owed by parents to children, by motorists to pedestrians and other motorists, and by employees to employers, fellow employees, and the public.
1:38 â Commission shall sell cannabis at cost PLUS Expenses to patients. The caveat is that the commission is also obligated to defend the law against the feds, or anyone else, and factor the expense of this defense into their cost. This is essentially giving lawyers a blank check and could result costs that patients cannot afford. Additionally, the costs of policing âillegalâ sales within the state, and outside the state, will also be factored into the costs charged patients. This cost could be astronomical.
Canada on Cannabis #24
01:53:50
1
Aug. 14, 2011
Free Radio Santa Cruz, 101.1 FM, www.freakradio.org
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