Feds raid medical marijuana farm used by hundreds for medicine
EUGENE, Ore. - Nan Norris sometimes feels a lot of pain. "I have arthritis, I have Fibromyalgia," she said.
She smokes medical marijuana instead of taking pills to ease her pain. "I don't like Codeine or the other pills that they give you," she said
So Norris puffs away on the pipe. "It helps me sleep, it helps with muscle spasms and muscle cramps."
She's been using marijuana to treat medical conditions, including early symptoms of glaucoma, for years.
Last year, she signed up to get her supply from the High Hopes Farm in Jackson County.
- PHOTOS: Inside "The Farm"
It's run by James Bowman, a well-known figure in the medical marijuana community, according to Norris.
"He came in to sign up some patients and I was lucky enough to get on his list, that was last year," she said.
According to her, each patient who is signed up with the farm has an individual grow.
"Last fall we had a fine harvest and I got my medicine like I was supposed to," she said. "Hundreds of people depend on him and their operation."
But on Tuesday, that farm was raided by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents, leaving her medicine and others in limbo.
"Hundreds of us will be affected by this," she said.
She said High Hopes is one of the biggest suppliers in the state, helping more than 100 patients.
The U.S. Attorney's office in Portland declined an interview on the case but did release a statement:
"On September 18, 2012, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration executed federal search warrants at the High Hopes Farm, 700 Upper Applegate Road, Jacksonville, Oregon, and several related locations as part of an investigation of the illegal manufacture and distribution of marijuana. Because the investigation is pending, there will be no further comment."
For now Norris said the waiting game for medicine continues as her supply runs out.
"Unless I can find an indoor grower, it's really too late in the year for signing up anywhere and I'll have to wait till next year."
The Americans for Safe Access will be holding a rally at the Federal Courthouse in Eugene to protest recent medical marijuana raids.
It will be outside the Federal Courthouse at noon on Thursday, September 20.
I find it funny in a country that is supposedly proudly a democracy this is still going on. Seems like the votes are in and the majority approves medical use of said substance. SEEMS DEMOCRACY is an illusion truth be told! Facist @ssesÂ
At the local level it may be a majority approval...nationally? Not even close. That's part of the reason it has never been addressed at the federal level.Â
Don't be fooled by the state's offer for a wink-and-nod approval with a tax. It's just a money grab. You're still subject to federal law no matter where you go, no matter what state you reside. Whine and cry and wring you're fists....makes no difference
Lame as hell...tax dollars spent wisely. LIke using national guard helicopters to look for pot farms. Money well spent. Puhleez
makes you want to say something bad about the fed, for all the good it would do. remember fast and furious.
END PROHIBITION NOW!!!!!!!!!!!
our government needs to start understanding that forcing its citizens to only buy meds produced by large companies with side effect vrs non side effect pot which grows naturally is gona be a big problem very soon.
this is a threat to us if we pass the legalize pot thing in nov the feds are gona threaten us,bring it
It won't be long until "medical" pot is in pill form, then we shall "weed out" (pun intended) the stoners from those who are really using this drug medicinally.  We need to legalize it, manufacture it in pill form and TAX it just like every other medicine.Â
 @thisBITES!Â
That's like saying that beer and wine is less harmful than hard alcohol? No offense, but lets just look at what this has done for opiates, which are now much more common in pill form. They are now the #1 cause of death for people under 25.
IMO it does not matter what form it's in, people will abuse it just like any form of alcohol or drug. The main problem here is that it's still federally illegal. Which makes it a cash cow for any underground market. The more bust we make the more money that it's worth. Duuu.Â
Mean while at the Mexico Boarder the feds just can't figure out why the problem there continues to get worse. Even the feds admit that the more money and resources that they throw at the problem the bigger it seems to get. "It's like we are throwing gas on a fire."Â
The very same things happened with alcohol prohibition until people finally realized that we had created and were feeding an underground beast, where people like Al Capone flourished. Every time we make bust like these we continue to feed the same kind of beast.Â
Until we all wake up and realize that this is not going away, legalize it at a federal level, these things will all continue to happen. All of these patients/pot smokers will just find another source. Hopefully it's not tied to a cartel or some other criminal organization, but what are the odds of that not happening?
At the very same time we continue to loose beds at our local jails and real criminals are running the streets because we have no place to keep them because we have no resources. Makes perfect sense to me. Put the legal pot growers in jail and let the real criminals go.
Go ahead...feed the beast.....throw gas on the fire.
Hopefully some of these people will come to there dam senses  Â
Legalize, Tax and Regulate! Just like beer, wine or drug. What an idea?Â
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It is in pill form and also in liquid form. With two different governments fighting against each other, those that depend upon it instead if taking heavy narcotics will have to look to the street where it could be laced with other harmful substances or be more expensive and from an unknown source. Kinda sad when someone is looking for a more natural type of med for their diagnosis and are forced to either suffer or go without that med.
"Medicine"Â LOL
 @8203432 "Cannabidiolic acid, a major cannabinoid in fiber-type cannabis, is an inhibitor of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell migration." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22963825
 @8203432 It is medicine for several conditions, e.g.  patients suffering with side effects of chemotherapy ; patients with glaucoma, just to name a couple.  For many of these people, there is nothing as effective.
Terry is right....Federal law trumps Oregon law, whether it's a money issue or not. You can give all the reasonable excuses for using it; Therapy/medicine/whatever...it's still against "Federal law". Funny that Oregon is considering making it "legal" so they can tax it.Â
I can not sympathize with them because they new that growing pot was still against federal law and new this could happen. There are people that are using the medical excuse to use it to get high. How about you change the federal law instead of crying and wining about loosing your pot.
The federal government raiding farms that comply with state law is a terrible abuse of power. Voters in 16 states have spoken. Marijuana is medicine and patients should be able to get it. Â Yes the citizens of America must demand that federal marijuana laws be changed but given the complete partisan gridlock that will take time. In the meantime the US Attorneys and the DEA should use our resources to go after real criminals. This raid on a marijuana farm may be the single largest mobilization of law enforcement resources in the state recently. This is absurd, undemocratic and the dying gasps of a policy that should and will change. If you think this raid is a waste of time send them a message - VOTE YES on MEASURE 80.
@John Sajo If the grower would have told them he was an illegal they would have left him alone. Remember the Fed only enforces the laws they want to
Most of these people will be forced to buy it on the street now. This isn't about the pot, it's about a shift in where the money goes. I have yet to see a voice of reason from the prohibition side that isn't somehow benefiting from prohibition. As always, follow the money.