2A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2018
Oregon may not be able to block pot prosecutions
change, state officials say they
are exploring legal options.
In a press conference
Thursday, Gov. Kate Brown
stressed what she called a
coordinated effort among
state, local and federal law
enforcement to implement the
Cole Memo’s guidance.
“The result of all this col-
laborative work is that we
have now a thriving mari-
juana industry,” Brown said.
However, the governor
did not provide any specifics
on what legal recourse might
be available to the state in the
event that federal prosecu-
tors pursue the state’s canna-
bis industry.
“We’ve been in close com-
munication with the state
attorney general, Ellen Rosen-
blum, and will be pursuing all
legal options available to us,”
Brown said.
On Thursday, Rosenblum
said she would do everything
in her legal authority to pro-
tect Oregon’s regulated pot
businesses, though neither she
nor Brown proposed a specific
strategy to block federal pros-
ecutors from enforcing drug
laws passed by Congress.
“ … We are still monitor-
ing any future decisions, and
reviewing our legal options,”
Kristina Edmunson, a spokes-
woman for the state Depart-
By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Several legal
observers say that there are
limited ways for Oregon to
defend state-regulated canna-
bis businesses in the courts
in light of changes to federal
guidance on enforcement of
the drug.
Marijuana has been legal
under Oregon law since July
2015, but it remains illegal
under the federal Controlled
Substances Act.
U.S. Attorney General
Jeff Sessions on Thursday
rescinded an Obama-era pol-
icy, referred to as the Cole
Memo, that guided federal
law enforcement to focus
on larger-scale violations of
federal law rather than tar-
get state-compliant marijuana
operations. The action opens
even marijuana businesses
complying with state regula-
tions open to prosecution.
Sessions did not mandate
such prosecutions, but instead
gave federal prosecutors in
each state authority to decide
where they would focus their
enforcement actions.
While it doesn’t appear
likely that Billy Williams,
the U.S. attorney for of Ore-
gon, will pivot in light of that
Pamplin Media Group
Oregon officials say they’ll fight to protect state-regulated
cannabis businesses from federal prosecution, but offer
no strategies.
ment of Justice, wrote in an
email Friday.
‘Sanctuary state’
Henry Wykowski, a San
Francisco attorney special-
izing in cannabis, said Ore-
gon could become a “sanc-
tuary state” for marijuana,
much like Oregon is a sanc-
tuary state for undocumented
immigrants.
A Democratic state assem-
blyman in California has pro-
FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
TONIGHT
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
48
39
42
Clouds; a shower early,
then a little rain
THURSDAY
49
44
Mostly cloudy with a
little rain
FRIDAY
52
42
Cloudy with a bit of rain
50
42
Cloudy with a stray
shower
Windy with periods of rain
posed a law there to do just
that.
However, the state couldn’t
intervene in a criminal case
brought by federal authorities,
Wykowski said.
“What they could do
would be to provide testi-
mony that the conduct of the
defendant is legal and reg-
ulated under Oregon law,
and it’s approved, and what-
ever they’re doing is entirely
legal,” Wykowski said. “That
ALMANAC
Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs.
ASTORIA
42/48
Tillamook
43/48
Newport
43/49
Sunset tonight ........................... 4:48 p.m.
Sunrise Tuesday .......................... 7:57 a.m.
Moonrise today .................................. none
Moonset today ......................... 12:02 p.m.
Jan 8
Jan 16
Coos Bay
45/51
Full
Jan 24
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
TOMORROW'S TIDES
Astoria / Port Docks
Time
12:41 a.m.
1:52 p.m.
Low
1.6 ft.
2.1 ft.
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Denver
Des Moines
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Honolulu
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Memphis
Miami
Nashville
New Orleans
New York
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington, DC
Hi
45
34
37
59
39
37
68
-6
82
38
47
57
66
44
78
41
63
31
53
33
42
44
59
49
38
Klamath Falls
35/45
Hi
43
46
53
45
50
45
47
47
50
52
Today
Lo
32
37
46
38
44
35
41
41
43
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Tues.
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A provision in federal law
prevents the U.S. Depart-
ment of Justice from spending
money to interfere with the
implementation of state med-
ical cannabis systems, says
Bear Wilner-Nugent, a Port-
land attorney.
To an extent, Wilner-Nu-
gent says, Oregon’s medical
and recreational systems have
been integrated: medical mar-
ijuana patients can buy the
product in the same shops that
recreational marijuana con-
sumers do, although patients
are exempt from paying state
marijuana taxes.
So interfering with the sys-
tem as a whole could bolster
a state argument that the fed-
eral government was interfer-
ing with the medical system in
a way that’s not lawful.
yet continued to sell them.
Now, Oregon Attorney Gen-
eral Ellen Rosenblum says the
company needs to pay.
“We’ve spent millions of
dollars cleaning up PCBs and
we have legal standing to sue
to recover the cost. So basi-
cally, we’ve spent the money.
You guys caused the damage.
We want you to pay for it,”
she said.
PCBs were widely used
in flame retardants, paint
and electrical insulation until
being banned in 1979. The
chemicals are toxic to wild-
life and humans, and are
extremely slow to break
down in the environment.
They continue to contaminate
waterways across the state,
including the Columbia and
Willamette rivers and Coos
Bay.
Kevin Parrett of the Ore-
gon Department of Environ-
mental Quality says the state
has been laboriously cleaning
up PCB pollution for three
decades. It’s often a mechan-
ical process that requires the
removal or capping of con-
taminated sediment.
“We’ve estimated that
DEQ has spent $100 million
that has been unrecovered. So
obviously that’s been a major
impact on DEQ’s budget,” he
said.
Yvonne, 79, of Warrenton,
died in Warrenton. Ocean
View Funeral & Cremation
Service of Astoria is in charge
of the arrangements.
VANDERVELDT, Charles
Edward Jr., 56, of Astoria, died
in Astoria. Caldwell’s Luce-Lay-
ton Mortuary in Astoria is in
charge of the arrangements.
Jan. 3, 2018
IVANOFF, Willard Asseri,
85, of Astoria, died in Port-
land. Caldwell’s Luce-Lay-
ton Mortuary of Astoria is in
charge of the arrangements.
Lakeview
36/46
Ashland
42/49
DEATHS
REGIONAL CITIES
City
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Eugene
Ilwaco
Klamath Falls
Medford
Newberg
Newport
North Bend
Protections for medical
W
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r
sh
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r
City
Olympia
Pendleton
Portland
Roseburg
Salem
Seaside
Spokane
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Yakima
Hi
47
42
47
48
49
51
38
49
47
41
Today
Lo
39
35
40
44
41
43
32
41
42
35
W
c
pc
c
r
r
c
c
r
c
pc
Hi
47
43
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50
48
37
48
47
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Tues.
Lo
34
33
37
40
37
40
28
39
37
31
W
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Jan. 7, 2018
DAHL, William J., 71, of
Astoria, died in Astoria. Ocean
View Funeral & Cremation
Service of Astoria is in charge
of the arrangements.
Jan. 5, 2018
BUCKNER,
Lafonda
TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Lo
37
29
22
36
26
21
43
-17
70
23
28
49
55
38
67
36
52
30
31
29
25
39
53
42
31
Burns
29/44
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018
Tonight's Sky: The Last Quarter Moon (2:25 p.m.) is
halfway between full moon and new moon.
High
8.8 ft.
6.7 ft.
Ontario
33/41
Roseburg
44/48
Brookings
45/53
Jan 31
Baker
32/41
John Day
40/44
Bend
37/43
Medford
41/48
UNDER THE SKY
Time
7:15 a.m.
7:45 p.m.
Prineville
37/45
Lebanon
41/49
Eugene
38/48
First
La Grande
38/42
Salem
41/50
SUN AND MOON
New
Pendleton
35/43
The Dalles
37/46
Portland
40/47
Precipitation
Sunday ............................................. 0.79"
Month to date ................................... 2.33"
Normal month to date ....................... 2.44"
Year to date ...................................... 2.33"
Normal year to date .......................... 2.44"
Last
Oregon is suing the
agro-chemical company Mon-
santo to help clean up toxic
chemicals in the environment.
The suit, filed Thursday
in Multnomah County Cir-
cuit Court, is seeking at least
$100 million to cover decades
of cleanup of a now-banned
group of chemicals called
PCBs, or polychlorinated
biphenyls, which the com-
pany manufactured.
The state alleges Mon-
santo knew of the toxic effects
of the PCBs in its products,
REGIONAL WEATHER
case, a state or locality could
file a claim saying that the
move was detrimental to their
ability to collect taxes, as
Berkeley did in a federal case
brought against the Berke-
ley Patients Group, a medical
marijuana outlet.
Although that claim was
rejected in the trial court, the
case was dismissed before an
appeal on the city’s complaint
could be decided, Wykowski
said.
Oregon sues Monsanto for
decades of PCB cleanup costs
By JES BURNS
Oregon Public
Broadcasting
Astoria through Sunday.
Temperatures
High/low ....................................... 47°/42°
Normal high/low ........................... 49°/38°
Record high ............................ 67° in 1986
Record low ............................. 15° in 1974
could be challenged, but that’s
the position I would advocate
for them to take.”
Perry Salzhauer, a Portland
attorney and partner in the
Green Light Law Group, a law
firm specializing in the mari-
juana industry, said he wasn’t
sure whether testimony of that
nature would be deemed rele-
vant by a judge because there
are no exemptions in the fed-
eral Controlled Substances
Act for state compliance.
However, both attorneys
noted that the court of public
opinion may serve as a deter-
rent to bringing such cases
before a jury in the first place.
“The best defense we have
is the political system,” Salz-
hauer said.
A similar case in Oakland,
California, where the defense
was prohibited from using
such testimony, caused a
“big uproar,” Wykowski said,
and prosecutors have since
“backed off.”
Wykowski said after the
fact, when jurors learned the
defendant was complying
with state law and licensed by
Oakland, they sent a letter to
the judge saying that if they
had known that the defendant
was operating legally under
state law, they would have
voted differently.
In a civil asset forfeiture
W
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-5
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50
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40
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Tues.
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-18
69
33
35
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67
43
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26
42
21
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28
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
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PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Ambulance Services Area
Advisory Committee, 1 p.m.,
800 Exchange St., Suite 430.
Youngs River Lewis & Clark
Water District Board, 6 p.m.,
34583 U.S. Highway 101 Busi-
ness.
Cannon Beach Rural Fire
Department Board, 6 p.m.,
Fire-Rescue Main Station, 188
Sunset Ave.
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
TUESDAY
Astoria Homelessness Task
Force, 10 a.m., Clatsop Commu-
nity College, Patriot Hall EMT
Classroom, 1651 Lexington Ave.
Port of Astoria Commission, 4
p.m., workshop, 10 Pier 1 Suite
209.
Clatsop Community College
Board, 5:30 p.m., executive
session to evaluate president
(closed to public), 6:30 p.m.,
regular meeting, Columbia Hall
Room 219, 1651 Lexington Ave.,
Astoria.
Cannon Beach City Council,
5:30 p.m., work session, City
Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Warrenton City Commission,
5:15 p.m., work session on
pavement management, 6 p.m.,
regular meeting, City Hall, 225
S. Main Ave.
Astoria Planning Commis-
sion, 6:30 p.m., City Hall, 1095
Duane St.
Lewis & Clark Fire Depart-
ment Board, 7 p.m., main fire
station, 34571 Highway 101
Business.
Saturday’s Powerball: 12-29-
30-33-61, Powerball: 26
Estimated jackpot: $40 million
Friday’s Pick 4:
1 p.m.: 9-4-8-5
4 p.m.: 6-8-5-9
7 p.m.: 0-5-1-4
10 p.m.: 5-6-6-6
Friday’s Lucky Lines: 03-08-
10-16-18-23-28-32
Estimated jackpot: $12,000
Friday’s Mega Millions: 28-
30-39-59-70, Mega Ball: 10
Estimated jackpot: $40 million
Sunday’s Match 4: 09-14-
19-20
Saturday’s Daily Game: 4-7-5
Saturday’s Hit 5: 07-17-21-
26-30
Estimated jackpot: $190,000
Saturday’s Keno: 02-12-17-
24-27-28-30-31-40-42-46-47-
51-53-59-64-67-68-70-80
Saturday’s Lotto: 04-11-13-
23-24-41
Estimated jackpot: $1.5
million
Saturday’s Match 4: 05-09-
18-22
Friday’s Daily Game: 1-5-2
Friday’s Keno: 07-08-09-10-
11-17-23-31-33-39-41-45-54-
57-63-64-66-69-70-73
Friday’s Match 4: 06-10-16-21
LOTTERIES
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy,
sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries,
sn-snow, i-ice.
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OREGON
Sunday’s Pick 4:
1 p.m.: 4-4-7-8
4 p.m.: 9-5-8-9
7 p.m.: 1-3-4-0
10 p.m.: 5-6-7-9
Sunday’s Lucky Lines: 01-06-
11-16-17-22-27-29
Estimated jackpot: $15,000
Saturday’s Pick 4:
1 p.m.: 9-0-1-8
4 p.m.: 3-6-8-5
7 p.m.: 3-7-7-0
10 p.m.: 3-2-8-3
Saturday’s Lucky Lines: 03-
08-10-13-19-21-25-32
Estimated jackpot: $13,000
Saturday’s Megabucks: 6-10-
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Estimated jackpot: $6.3 million
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Sunday’s Daily Game:4-7-3
Sunday’s Keno: 04-07-10-11-
12-18-21-27-28-30-32-38-40-
43-62-71-73-76-77-78
The Daily Astorian
Established July 1, 1873
(USPS 035-000)
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