Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Page A-9
Kirchoff at any time.
Some residents are concerned that the only possible out-
come of the lawsuit will be reversing the state law due to the
constitutional Supremacy Clause, which would mean medical
marijuana would once again be illegal in Oregon. Josephine
County has over 5,000 medical marijuana cardholders, one
of the highest per-capita concentrations of medical marijuana
cards in the state.
In August 2013, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber signed
House Bill 3460 into law, creating ORS 475.300 – provisions
for allowing medical marijuana dispensaries in Oregon. The
law allowing dispensaries took effect March 1. A later amend-
ment gave local governments until May 1 to adopt up to a one-
year moratorium on dispensaries.
In advance of the May 1 deadline, many municipalities
chose to wait out the year before acting on the new law by de-
claring a moratorium on dispensaries. At least 23 counties and
128 cities adopted moratoriums. The idea was to see whether
the law will remain in effect, or if these bans can be made
permanent, a position favored by the League of Oregon Cities.
Three cities have adopted permanent bans, but their legality is
also in doubt.
Other municipalities may be waiting to see how details in
the law may be changed between now and May 1, 2015 when
the moratoriums must be lifted. This strategy avoids passing
ordinances which may be overturned in the future – creating
further problems and potential lawsuits from dispensary own-
ers.
Most city charters require them to comply with federal
law and ordinances which deny business licenses to anyone
violating federal law. Despite this, a small handful of cities,
including Portland and Bend, are allowing dispensaries; while
Central Point and Klamath Falls are allowing them only under
tight restrictions.
Court ... Continued from A-1
In a recent interview, Kirchoff pointed out that Cave
Junction’s legal code is based on observing state and federal
laws and that city councilors take an oath to uphold these
regulations. “It’s about the rule of law,” he said. “You can’t pick
and choose which laws you will and won’t obey. That leads to
anarchy.”
In a separate interview, City Recorder Ryan Nolan said,
“Potential liability concerns, including endangering federal
grant funding are definitely worth pursuing legal determination
from a court before there is a problem. Sticking your head in
the sand and waiting isn’t a good idea.”
Nolan said he sees a potential issue with conflicting law
and the potential for liability on the part of the city.
“So, getting a legal judgment, and clarification on how
to proceed with this issue, does nothing but protect the inter-
est of the taxpayers and citizens of the City of Cave Junction,”
he said, noting that the city can terminate the contract with
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GMO Free: a guest opinion by John Gardiner
Everywhere we turn, too-big-to-fail
corporations are wrecking our society. Not just
the banksters, who have caused so much grief
that anyone who’s not transferred what’s left of
their savings to a credit union is just not pay-
ing attention to what’s in their best interests.
It’s nothing new – in the 1920s, General Mo-
tors began a covert campaign that eventually
destroyed the popular rail-based public transit
systems in the country’s urban areas
In 1937, William Randolph Hearst, Du
Pont and others caused hemp to be banned
(http://www.amazon.com/The-Emperor-Wears-
Clothes-Conspiracy/dp/1878125028). Can-
nabis was vilified (c.f. Reefer Madness). The
older generation still exhibits fear induced by
corporate interests, despite cannabinoids being
far more effective, with fewer side effects, than
pharmaceuticals. Who benefits? ‘Big Timber’?
‘Big Pharma’? The privatized prison indus-
try??
Small farmers, backbone of food produc-
tion, are regulated unfairly. Ever-changing
rules govern sales of local raw goat milk or
cheese, SO good for us. Who receives the vast
majority of USDA subsidies? Not the small
farmers! The interests of biotech/pesticide
companies are advanced with the notorious
‘revolving door’ syndrome. Legislators are
‘advised’ by senior corporate individuals join-
ing the government agency, who then return to
their company to reap the profits. The rotation
of people between government and Monsanto
is absolutely scandalous, but highly effec-
tive. With corporate ‘self-regulation’ of GMO
crops and use of pesticides, led to increase in
pesticide sales of over 6000 percent from 1990
- 2010.
Why are we often sick, and tired? Know
anyone with allergies, cancer? Could there be
any connection with pesticide use (or abuse,
in the aerial spraying of Coos Bay residents)?
Many multinational corporations are wreaking
havoc on our lives. Did I mention fracking? Or
CAFUs (Combined Animal Feeding Units)?
Removing mountain tops to mine coal, the
dirtiest source of energy? Keystone XL pipe-
line? Lack of research into renewable energy?
The good news? Our burgeoning Farm-
ers Markets - a welcome symptom of local-
ization - and young farmers coming to our
Valley. A dollar spent locally will circulate
maybe 7x, lifting our local economy. http://
thenewlocalization.com/2014/04/17/economic-
concentration/#more-79
How can we improve our local economy?
Frequent our Farmers’ Markets and local
shops. Protect local agriculture by voting in
May for a GMO-Free JoCo (Measure 17-58).
Sign to get Freedom from Pesticides on the
November ballot. Join our many volunteers
to help those in need; clean-up our parks
and rivers. Take visitors to local attractions.
Grow food and flowers - buy starts from local
farmers. See our many wonderful alternative
healers; ditch synthetic drugs. Vacation at local
resorts. Let’s remove the influence of as many
large corporations from our lives as possible!