News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
As voters across the state weigh the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana, Sisters voters will decide on whether to allow medical marijuana dispensaries within the city limits.
Measure 9-101 on the November ballot asks a simple question: Shall the Sisters code be amended to allow regulated medical marijuana dispensaries to operate within the Sisters city limits? A "yes" vote means that medical marijuana dispensaries would be allowed to operate only in the Highway Commercial District and the Downtown Commercial District of Sisters. They would not be allowed on or within 100 feet of Cascade Avenue, signage would be restricted and dispensaries would be banned from packaging marijuana in a way that would be attractive to minors.
Diane Goble, who served on the citizens' committee that helped craft the ballot question, said that she has seen benefits from medical marijuana in her counseling work.
"I've seen it help people with PTSD, I've seen it help people with cancer, anxiety... I think it's a viable medicine," she said.
Gary Miller also served on the committee. He is not a medical marijuana user, but he has strong views in favor of dispensaries being allowed.
"I'm a firm proponent of relief for people with pain and medical problems ... that they should have a right to make life as comfortable as possible," he said.
Medical marijuana became legal in Oregon in 1998, but federal law has not changed. Recent licensing of dispensaries in the state put cities in the position of having to obey state law and issue business licenses to medical marijuana dispensaries, technically in violation of federal law. SB1531 allowed municipalities to place a moratorium on licensing medical marijuana facilities, which the City of Sisters did, before referring the matter to the voters.
Miller was activated by the moratorium. He does not believe municipalities should individually override the will of the people as expressed in the state law allowing dispensaries.
"Here's a state that allows it and we're piecemealing taking it away," he said.
For City Council President McKibben Womack, the conflict between state and federal law is a key issue.
"In my opinion, I can't go against federal law, because I've taken an oath," he said. "If federal law allowed for it and it could be regulated like other drugs are regulated, I'd be behind it 100 percent."
He said that if voters approve the measure, "We'll have an interesting situation. The council will have to wrestle and come up with what to do."
Some folks in Sisters consider dispensaries a "bad fit for Sisters." Opponents of medical marijuana in general fear an increase in teen drug use due to a more permissive environment that treats the drug as medicine.
Miller acknowledges those concerns, but he doesn't believe they trump the right of a medical marijuana user to legally obtain the substance in their own city. He says that medical marijuana patients often have limited mobility.
"Those folks are not going to easily drive to Bend (where there are 10 dispensaries)," he said.
He is sensitive to concerns about young people and drugs, noting, "I lost my brother to an overdose when he was 22 years old."
He notes that pharmacies carry many medicines, such as painkillers, that are subject to abuse and which can be lethal.
"I think this is medicine," he said. "Are we taking (other legal) medicines away because of scares about kids?"
Goble had a similar argument: "I have more of a problem with some of the pharmaceuticals," she said. "I think they are more debilitating, more addictive."
And any drug, including pharmaceuticals, can be subject to abuse on the street.
Goble notes that the medical marijuana issue can be clouded by concerns about the drug's recreational use.
"The idea is not to get high," she said. "The idea is to relieve pain - and that's what medical marijuana does."
Studies have shown that marijuana can have long-term effects on the developing brains of teenagers who use it consistently. Proponents of medical marijuana and opponents alike recognize that kids seem to have little problem obtaining pot.
Retired school resource officer Don Pray told The Nugget last spring that as far as drugs in schools go, "marijuana is the big issue - always is and always will be."
Unlike with alcohol, where a deputy can cite a teen as a "minor in possession" just by smelling it on him, Pray says that it's much more difficult to pin an MIP rap on a pot smoker who doesn't actually have anything on him. And the kids know it.
"The kids are smart enough not to bring it to the school," he said. "Do they go out and smoke it at lunch time? Yeah, we know that for a fact."
Pray has some concerns that the trend toward legalization will legitimize marijuana use.
"I've had 18-year-olds who are still in school who have medical marijuana cards," he said.
Goble has concerns about young people and drugs, too, but she believes that issue should be addressed through education, not through prohibiting medical marijuana for adult patients. She wants to see a tax imposed, with the money put toward education.
"I think education is important," she said. "We want to be assured that there is education in the Sisters schools."
Miller said that the ballot title committee did worthy work, coming up with a very simple question to put before the voters.
The committee-members toured dispensaries in Bend for a first-hand look at how they operate, an experience Miller found "very interesting. I'd never been in one." He said that "with one glaring exception," the operations were "very professional and low-key."
Miller said the City's work has been solid and he appreciates the willingness to bring the controversial issue to voters.
"I give kudos to staff and kudos to council as well," he said. "Council gave blessing to the process."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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