Foes: Pot dispensaries 'nothing more than a scam'
EUGENE, Ore. - In November, you will be asked to decide if the state of Oregon should have dispensaries to sell pot.
After our story with supporters of the measure, KVAL News wanted to hear from people who have concerns about pot dispensaries, and it took some work.
KVAL News called local law enforcement leaders from all over Lane County, hoping to get their opinion. We called the Lane County District Attorney, Lane County Sheriff and the Chiefs of Police in Eugene and Springfield and were not able to find one person who would comment.
From elsewhere in the state, we found officials with strong feelings who were happy to talk.
Pete Schulberg with Oregon Partnership, an agency that deals with drug and alcohol awareness and drug prevention programs, told us they feel Oregon's medical marijuana program is a joke.
"It's nothing more than a scam really," Schulberg said. In his view, the initiative headed for the November ballot has very little to do with health care or medical treatment or dealing with pain.
"It's all about people wanting to get high," he said. "So all these so-called dispensaries would only, we think, exacerbate the abuses."
He says the dispensaries will provide a way for growers and dealers to make money.
Talking about communities in California, a state with dispensaries, Schulberg says they are having real problems.
"The problem has become so severe and prevalent that 90 cities and counties in California have passed bans on these dispensaries," he says. He says the Oregon Partnership feels those dispensaries are "little more than dope dealers and storefronts."
We also talked with Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin. When asked what he has been hearing, reading and seeing about the impact of dispensaries on communities, Bergin said, "The impact is immense. When you really look at what these dispensaries are doing first of all. They're dispensing marijuana, which is still an illegal drug in the United States under federal statutes."
Bergin says supporters of the ballot measure have an ulterior motive. "I think their ultimate goal is to basically try to get this drug legalized and we've got enough issues out their currently."
In 2004, Oregonians rejected a similar measure that would have allowed marijuana dispensaries.
