NORTH COAST
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015
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Current regulations won’t keep
marijuana out of black market
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — A deputy di-
rector with the Oregon Health
Authority has warned state
lawmakers that existing con-
trols over the state’s medical
marijuana industry might be
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out of the illicit market.
Priscilla Lewis, deputy di-
rector for the Public Health
Division, stopped short of
asking lawmakers to institute
a seed-to-sale tracking system
for medical cannabis. That
system involves labeling ev-
ery plant and tracking it with
a tiny computer chip similar
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“We are not asking for
that, but we see the wisdom
in that,” Lewis said Tuesday.
“It is very challenging with-
out seed-to-sale. Without it,
there are opportunities for
dirty product to come back
into the system and also for
diversion.”
State can track
recreational pot
The Oregon Liquor Con-
trol Commission already has
authority to track recreation-
al marijuana with a seed-to-
sale system. The commission
inked a $1.7 million contract
in September with Franwell to
provide the tracking system.
Franwell also is the contrac-
tor for Colorado’s marijuana
tracking system.
Lawmakers opted for a
looser tracking system for
medical marijuana involving
growers largely self-reporting
the number of plants they’re
cultivating.
“Obviously, seed-to-sale is
kind of the gold standard for
keeping the system closed, so
any time you have a weaker
regulatory structure, the po-
tential is higher” for leakage
into the illicit market, said
state Senate Majority Leader
Ginny Burdick, D-Portland,
who sits on the joint legisla-
tive marijuana legalization
committee.
“This was basically a po-
litical compromise because
the medical program is almost
20 years old now, so there
was a lot of concern from
growers about being subject
to OLCC,” Burdick said.
Naysayers of seed-to-sale
have said stringent tracking
and other onerous regulation
would hurt low-income pa-
tients’ access to medical can-
nabis by making the product
more expensive.
A temporary sales pro-
gram that started Oct. 1 al-
lows medical dispensaries to
sell recreational pot until Dec.
31, 2016. Starting in 2017,
dispensaries that sell medical
marijuana may no longer sell
recreational pot.
Some momentum
for change
There is some momentum
to change the law to con-
tinue allowing medical and
recreational marijuana to
be sold out of the same lo-
cation, Burdick said. If that
were to happen, there may
be interest in requiring that
medical marijuana undergo
the same scrutiny and track-
ing as recreational, the sen-
ator said.
“As we went down the
road, I think more people got
comfortable with more track-
ing as long as they could sell
both recreationally and medi-
cally,” Burdick said.
Lawmakers on the joint
legislative committee on mar-
ijuana legalization are consid-
ering a housekeeping bill on
marijuana legalization next
year. It’s unclear yet whether
that could include provisions
to allow all medical and rec-
reational sales from one lo-
cation and more stringent
requirements for tracking
medical marijuana. Doing one
without the other is unlikely
to gain political traction, Bur-
dick said.
Rob Patridge, chairman of
the Oregon Liquor Control
Commission, has estimated
up to 75 percent of canna-
bis grown under the medical
program leaks into the illegal
market. That estimate was
based on his conversations
with unnamed growers, said a
commission spokesman.
Still illegal under
federal law
Possession, manufacture
and delivery of medical and
recreational cannabis remain
illegal at the federal level.
The U.S. Department of Jus-
tice in a 2013 memo indicat-
ed that states that have passed
laws to legalize marijuana
must implement “strong and
effective regulatory and en-
forcement systems that will
address the threat those state
laws could pose to public
safety, public health and
other law enforcement inter-
ests.”
“A system adequate to that
task must not only control ro-
bust controls and procedures
on paper, it must also be ef-
fective in practice,” the memo
said.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
Resignation opens position Scholarships available for
community college students
on Astoria School Board
Dursse, an operations
manager for the Columbia
River Bar Pilots and a 22-
Martin Dursse, who has year U.S. Coast Guard vet-
served on the Astoria School eran, was appointed to the
Board since 2008
school board in
and was a former
2008 to fill a posi-
board chairman,
tion vacated by As-
has stepped down.
toria forester Da-
“My other com-
vid Kaspar. Dursse
mitments have be-
ran unopposed for
come too great for
election in 2011
me to be able to
and reelection in
fulfill the require-
May.
ments of my posi-
“I’m
excited
tion on the board,
for him, because I
Martin
and I feel it is best
know he’s doing so
Dursse
for me to make
many great things
room for someone
in the community
with the time and energy to already,” said Sampson, who
devote to the job,” Dursse took over as board chair-
said in a letter to Superinten- woman Tuesday and held
dent Craig Hoppes.
back tears while speaking
The school board ac- about him.
cepted the resignation at a
Sampson slammed the
meeting Wednesday. The gavel down at the end of the
three board members present board’s meeting in honor of
— Jeanette Sampson, Jenna Dursse.
Rickenbach and Grace La-
During the Pledge of Al-
man — thanked Dursse for legiance at the beginning of
providing steady leadership the meeting, Astoria High
on the school board and School Principal Lynn Jack-
for helping them acclimate son provided a subtle nod to
when they joined the gov- Dursse, whose voice often
erning body.
stood out during the recital
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
as he omitted the comma —
or pause — used by many
in the middle of the phrase
“one nation under God.”
The “under God” portion
was added on Flag Day in
1954. There is no comma
in the complete phrase, al-
though recitals of the pledge
often include one.
Board vacancies are filled
by appointment. Eligible ap-
pointees must be registered
voters and a resident with-
in the school district for at
least one year preceding
their appointment. School
board elections are held in
odd years, and Hoppes said
the board has the option of
keeping the position vacant
until the next election in
May 2017.
But board members
leaned toward appointing
a replacement before then.
Hoppes recommended no-
tifying the public of the
vacancy, asking for appli-
cations by late January and
interviewing candidates lat-
er that month. The appoin-
tee would start in February
and run for election in May
2017.
The Daily Astorian
The application period
for the Jack Kent Cooke
Foundation’s Undergrad-
uate Transfer Scholarship
is open.
The scholarship is the
largest private fund for
high-achieving communi-
ty college students from
low-income backgrounds
who want to transfer to
a four-year institution.
Cooke Scholars can re-
ceive up to $40,000 per
year for up to three years
of study at any four-year
accredited college or uni-
versity. Approximately 85
recipients will be selected
for the coming year.
In addition to finan-
cial support, the program
helps students make the
transition to four-year
colleges and maximize
their campus experienc-
es with the support of
counselors, a network
of nearly 2,000 scholars
and alumni. Cooke Scholars
also have additional oppor-
tunities such as internships,
study abroad and continued
funding for graduate school.
To be eligible, applicants
must be current students at
accredited U.S. community
colleges or two-year institu-
tions with sophomore status
or have graduated within the
last five years. They must
have a cumulative college
GPA of 3.5 or above, plan
to transfer to a four-year
college or university to be-
gin studies in fall 2016, and
demonstrate unmet financial
need.
A distinguished panel of
university faculty and ad-
missions professionals grade
applicants on academic abil-
ity and achievements, finan-
cial need, persistence, lead-
ership and a desire to help
others.
Applications must be re-
ceived by 9 a.m. Dec. 15.
Finalists will be notified in
April 2016. To learn more
about the Undergraduate
Transfer Scholarship, visit
http://tinyurl.com/ol22svd
3RD AN N U AL
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The Daily Astorian
$VWRULD 3ROLFH ¿OHG DG-
ditional charges against one
of the three people arrest-
ed Wednesday at an Astoria
apartment where metham-
phetamine was found.
Jessica Gassner, 37, of As-
toria, is being charged with
tampering with evidence and
h i n d e r-
ing pros-
ecution.
She was
origi-
nally
arrested
for pos-
session
and dis-
tribution
Jessica
of meth-
Glassner
amphet-
amine
after police served a search
warrant at the apartment on
1824 Exchange St.
During
the
search,
Gassner’s phone and tablet
were seized. When detec-
tives went to forensically
examine the phone, police
said, they found Gassner
had remotely wiped the
phone. As soon as police
turned on the phone, it
reformatted itself.
Along with Gassner,
Blaine Ogier was arrest-
ed and charged with dis-
tribution of a controlled
substance — methamphet-
amine. Krystal Wilson was
arrested on a warrant from
Seaside Municipal Court.
Officers found metham-
phetamine and items that
had been traded for meth-
amphetamine in the apart-
ment.
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