Medical marijuana measure sparks opposition

SALEM, Ore. – A measure on the Nov. 2 ballot to expand the medical use of marijuana is drawing fire from the White House drug czar, who says it would turn Oregon into a “safe haven for drug trafficking.”

Measure 33 would make it easier for ailing people to obtain marijuana and allow them to possess more of it.

But White House drug czar John Walters, echoing the criticism of Oregon’s district attorneys, calls Measure 33 a “fraud” on Oregon voters and a back door attempt to legalize marijuana.

“People are being played for suckers,” Walters said in an interview from Washington, D.C. “Their compassion for sick people is being used to do something that’s destructive for the state.”

Proponents say, however, that Oregon’s current program is too restrictive and that Oregonians already have shown they support allowing ill people to have the drug by overwhelmingly approving the 1998 law.

The chief petitioner for the measure is John Sajo, a longtime marijuana activist who sponsored an unsuccessful 1986 ballot measure to legalize marijuana. But he said that isn’t the issue in Measure 33.

“Our opponents don’t have any good arguments against medical marijuana, so they call this a legalization measure. That is nonsense,” Sajo said.

Measure 33 would represent a significant expansion of Oregon’s medical marijuana program, which was approved by the state’s voters in November 1998. Oregon is among nine states with medical marijuana laws.

Under Oregon’s current law, qualified patients are allowed to grow and use small amounts of marijuana without fear of prosecution as long as a doctor says it might help their condition.