Rolando Mota
Active member
The hits keep coming...
November 03, 2009, 8:50PM
As of next week, Oregon's medical-marijuana patients will have two smoke-easies in Portland in which to medicate and socialize, the first such places in the country to open since the federal government indicated that it will no longer arrest or prosecute patients and suppliers.
On Nov. 13, the Cannabis Cafe will open on the first floor of 700 N.E. Dekum St., to be operated by the state's chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Executive Director Madeline Martinez said the space has been a dream of hers for years.
"We're pretty danged excited about it," Martinez said.
The Cannabis Cafe will be the second public place for medical-marijuana patients to get together. On Oct. 1, Steve Geiger opened Highway 420, a small lounge at the back of his pipe shop at 6418 S.E. Foster Road.
"We've been kind of discreet about it. It's not something that we put out on a sign," Geiger said as he rang up customers Tuesday. "We've had great response in the neighborhood from people who are just happy they don't have to go all the way to 39th and Hawthorne" to buy pipes.
The pot lounges are the first of their kind in the nation, said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the national NORML. California has dispensaries where medical marijuana can be purchased, but only Oregon will have public places where people can socialize and use marijuana.
On Oct. 19, Attorney General Eric Holder reversed years of practice by announcing that federal authorities will not pursue marijuana users in states with medical-marijuana programs. Geiger, of Highway 420, pointed out that Holder had been saying for months that he would drop marijuana prosecutions, so Geiger felt safe enough to open his lounge.
Martinez said the need for an Oregon community center for program participants became clear to her when she heard from patients from all over the state who came to Portland to visit a doctor or a hospital and had no place to medicate afterward.
"Do they go out into an alley and hide in the back of their car?" Martinez said. "There needs to be a place, much like our meetings are, where people can socialize and network."
Cardholders only
The cafe will open Nov. 13 at 4:20 p.m. -- the time being a cheeky reference to a code term for marijuana. Then the cafe will operate from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. To enter, a person must be a member of Oregon NORML and hold a card from the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program as a patient, caregiver or grower.
The cafe, in a restaurant space called Rumpspankers, is an extension of the twice-monthly cardholder meetings that Oregon NORML has hosted for seven years, first at the Mount Tabor Theater and for the last year upstairs at the Northeast Dekum address, in the Village Ballroom.
Martinez said she does not know how many people would visit the cafe. But at least 300 people attend the twice-monthly meetings. As of Oct. 1, 23,873 Oregonians are registered medical-marijuana patients, and another 12,245 people are registered caregivers.
Portland Police Bureau spokeswoman Mary Wheat said Tuesday that the police have had no reported criminal activity associated with the twice-monthly meetings.
Martinez said volunteers will staff the cafe and people will be able to get donated medical marijuana.
On-site monitoring
In Oregon, only patients with a qualifying debilitating medical condition -- chronic pain, cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, among others -- can participate in the medical marijuana program. Patients are not permitted to buy marijuana, but they can chip in on the growers' costs. While in the cafe, patients will be monitored and not permitted to leave for at least two hours after using.
"We don't want anyone to get too medicated," Martinez said.
Oregon NORML is structuring the cafe to avoid having money change hands anywhere, Martinez said. Before entering the cafe, a cardholder can buy a gift card of any denomination to buy coffee, food or other goods inside.
Oregon was the second state in the nation, after California, to create a medical-marijuana program, and now a dozen other states allow medical marijuana in some form: Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
On Tuesday, Maine voters were headed toward approving the legalization and regulation of dispensaries. New Mexico already does; Rhode Island is considering it. In 2010, Nevada voters will for a third time consider whether to simply legalize marijuana altogether.
-- Anne Saker
Source: oregonlive.com
November 03, 2009, 8:50PM
As of next week, Oregon's medical-marijuana patients will have two smoke-easies in Portland in which to medicate and socialize, the first such places in the country to open since the federal government indicated that it will no longer arrest or prosecute patients and suppliers.
On Nov. 13, the Cannabis Cafe will open on the first floor of 700 N.E. Dekum St., to be operated by the state's chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Executive Director Madeline Martinez said the space has been a dream of hers for years.
"We're pretty danged excited about it," Martinez said.
The Cannabis Cafe will be the second public place for medical-marijuana patients to get together. On Oct. 1, Steve Geiger opened Highway 420, a small lounge at the back of his pipe shop at 6418 S.E. Foster Road.
"We've been kind of discreet about it. It's not something that we put out on a sign," Geiger said as he rang up customers Tuesday. "We've had great response in the neighborhood from people who are just happy they don't have to go all the way to 39th and Hawthorne" to buy pipes.
The pot lounges are the first of their kind in the nation, said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the national NORML. California has dispensaries where medical marijuana can be purchased, but only Oregon will have public places where people can socialize and use marijuana.
On Oct. 19, Attorney General Eric Holder reversed years of practice by announcing that federal authorities will not pursue marijuana users in states with medical-marijuana programs. Geiger, of Highway 420, pointed out that Holder had been saying for months that he would drop marijuana prosecutions, so Geiger felt safe enough to open his lounge.
Martinez said the need for an Oregon community center for program participants became clear to her when she heard from patients from all over the state who came to Portland to visit a doctor or a hospital and had no place to medicate afterward.
"Do they go out into an alley and hide in the back of their car?" Martinez said. "There needs to be a place, much like our meetings are, where people can socialize and network."
Cardholders only
The cafe will open Nov. 13 at 4:20 p.m. -- the time being a cheeky reference to a code term for marijuana. Then the cafe will operate from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. To enter, a person must be a member of Oregon NORML and hold a card from the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program as a patient, caregiver or grower.
The cafe, in a restaurant space called Rumpspankers, is an extension of the twice-monthly cardholder meetings that Oregon NORML has hosted for seven years, first at the Mount Tabor Theater and for the last year upstairs at the Northeast Dekum address, in the Village Ballroom.
Martinez said she does not know how many people would visit the cafe. But at least 300 people attend the twice-monthly meetings. As of Oct. 1, 23,873 Oregonians are registered medical-marijuana patients, and another 12,245 people are registered caregivers.
Portland Police Bureau spokeswoman Mary Wheat said Tuesday that the police have had no reported criminal activity associated with the twice-monthly meetings.
Martinez said volunteers will staff the cafe and people will be able to get donated medical marijuana.
On-site monitoring
In Oregon, only patients with a qualifying debilitating medical condition -- chronic pain, cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, among others -- can participate in the medical marijuana program. Patients are not permitted to buy marijuana, but they can chip in on the growers' costs. While in the cafe, patients will be monitored and not permitted to leave for at least two hours after using.
"We don't want anyone to get too medicated," Martinez said.
Oregon NORML is structuring the cafe to avoid having money change hands anywhere, Martinez said. Before entering the cafe, a cardholder can buy a gift card of any denomination to buy coffee, food or other goods inside.
Oregon was the second state in the nation, after California, to create a medical-marijuana program, and now a dozen other states allow medical marijuana in some form: Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
On Tuesday, Maine voters were headed toward approving the legalization and regulation of dispensaries. New Mexico already does; Rhode Island is considering it. In 2010, Nevada voters will for a third time consider whether to simply legalize marijuana altogether.
-- Anne Saker
Source: oregonlive.com
Last edited by a moderator:
Yeah they always have to exaggerate.
