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East Oregonian
Friday, January 8, 2016
Schools mull medical marijuana policies over student use
By PATRICK WHITTLE
Associated Press
AUBURN, Maine —
After years of trying to keep
marijuana out of schools,
educators across the country
are grappling with how
to administer cannabis to
students with prescriptions
for it.
Medical marijuana has
been legal in some states
for two decades but school
districts and lawmakers are
only now starting to grapple
with thorny issues about
student use of a drug still
illegal under federal law.
“School districts are trying
to ¿nd their way and navi-
gate this landscape as laws
develop and social norms
change,” said Francisco
Negron, general counsel of
the National School Boards
Association. “This is a situ-
ation in which the changing
social norms are ahead of the
existing operational struc-
ture.”
The possibility of medical
marijuana in schools raises
a number of questions for
school of¿cials, such as
who will administer it, how
to prevent it from being
redistributed by students, and
even the legality of having
it on campus. Only three of
the 23 states where medical
marijuana is legal have seen
schools or state of¿cials set
up rules, according to the
pro-reform Marijuana Policy
Project.
This week, a school
committee in Auburn, a
Maine city of about 23,000,
approved a policy to allow
students to have medical
marijuana under certain
conditions. It would have to
be approved by a physician
and administered in school
by a parent or guardian,
Auburn Assistant Superin-
tendent Michelle McClellan
said. Nurses wouldn’t be
able to administer the drug
and students would not be
permitted to smoke it.
The decision in Auburn
came about two months after
a New Jersey school became
the ¿rst in the country to
John Ziomek/Camden Courier-Post via AP
In this June 10, 2015 photo, medical marijuana patient
Genny Barbour, who is autistic and suffers from
seizures, interacts with her mother Lora at their home
in Maple Shade, N.J.
allow medical marijuana.
The Larc School instituted
the policy after 16-year-old
Genny Barbour, who suffers
from potentially life-threat-
ening epileptic seizures,
fought for the right to take
edible marijuana. A nurse at
the special education school
in Bellmawr provides Genny
with her midday dosage of
cannabis oil.
In Colorado, the law
permits parents or professional
caregivers to come on school
grounds to administer medical
marijuana if the district has
adopted a policy allowing
it, according to Megan
McDermott, spokeswoman
for the state Department of
Education. School nurses or
staff cannot administer it.
While medical marijuana
VAULT: All roads leading to the property were blocked off
Continued from 1A
6 a.m. by armed men when
they showed up for work.
Most of the employees left
the property, but scale atten-
dant Debi Furukawa locked
herself in the scale house
and called the state police
at Hermiston just before
the group cut the building’s
phone lines. She also
communicated by CB radio
with her husband Harvey,
who had locked himself in
the accounting of¿ce, until
someone disabled the system.
The Furukawas later escaped
the building unharmed.
The posse included
Ervin R. Haring, 54, and
Donald A. Goodwill, 46,
both of Portland; Robert D.
Cummings, 31, of Glendale,
Calif.; Donald R. Cooper, 36,
and George Hill, 47, both of
Stockton, Calif.; and Vernon
E. Essig, 48, and Farrell A.
Griggs, 18, both of Herald,
Calif. They were armed with
three handguns, a riÀe, a
hunting knife and numerous
clubs, and Goodwill’s two
dogs.
At the center of the
dispute was property owned
by Sach and Dan Mikami,
Ralph Zimmerly and Jack
Zabransky that was formerly
part of the estate of J.T.
“John” Hoskins. The posse,
claiming to be Hoskins’ heirs,
asserted that the property
occupied by the sheds
belonged to them because the
disposition of the land had
not been done properly when
Hoskins passed away. In
1974 former Umatilla County
surveyor Ralph Thompson
and Everett Thoren, an Elgin
resident, were arrested for
trespassing after they drove
onto Zimmerly’s land. In
July of 1976 Thoren and
Goodwill ¿led a 6.8 million
suit against Zimmerly, the
Zabransky brothers and
McPherson in U.S. District
Court in Portland in an
attempt to have the land in
dispute returned to Hoskins’
heirs.
Umatilla County Sheriff
Bill McPherson said in an
interview that his department
had heard rumors the night
before that the posse might
be involved in some kind of
takeover, but did not know
where the incident would
take place. He arrived at
7:15 a.m., and Umatilla
County, Oregon State Police
and of¿cers from as far
away as Milton-Freewater
and Baker City joined him
throughout the day. FBI agent
Dan Jacobson and Umatilla
County District Attorney
Jack Olsen and his deputies
were also at the scene for the
11-hour standoff.
All roads leading to the
property were blocked off,
and potato trucks waiting to
unload were turned away.
Police made two Àyovers of
the property with the help of
Ron Linn, whose home and
airstrip a half-mile from the
sheds were commandeered
as a command post for
law enforcement. Umatilla
County sheriff’s deputy
Keith Garoute was posted
on a vantage point about 350
yards from the sheds with
a scope-sighted .308 sniper
riÀe.
Police of¿cers conferred
with Goodwill, the group’s
leader, several times during
the day in an attempt to
convince the group to
surrender. In mid-afternoon
Goodwill rode into Herm-
iston with state police in an
attempt to contact Thoren,
who Goodwill said had hired
him to take over the shed.
Thoren wasn’t home.
Goodwill returned to the
shed at 4 p.m., and OSP Lt.
Duane Pankratz reported to
the command post that the
group had agreed to surrender
“if met by a show of force.”
At 4:30 p.m., 10 police cars
loaded with Àak-jacketed
and helmeted police of¿cers
descended on the potato
sheds, where the surrender
took place. No shots were
¿red and no injuries were
reported.
Deputy Glenn Youngman
said, “I think they were
hoping we would wait
them out.” He said the men
had sleeping bags but no
food, and that Thoren was
supposed to have brought
them a camp trailer and
provisions.
Following his arrest,
Goodwill said he and his
group had succeeded in their
purpose, since “possession is
nine-tenths of the law.” He
and his six co-conspirators
faced charges of conspiracy
to commit burglary and riot,
both felonies, while Essig
and Griggs also were charged
with criminal mischief and
unauthorized use of a motor
vehicle, and Cummings was
also charged with criminal
trespass.
The men also would be
sued for all police costs for
the incident. District Attorney
Jack Olsen said charges
against Thoren were also
possible, as two members of
the posse mentioned he had
hired them to take over the
sheds and Essig claimed to
have a signed agreement.
The trials were moved to
Hood River Circuit Court.
In December 1976, Vernon
Essig was convicted of
second-degree burglary and
possession of a dangerous
weapon with intent to
use, both felonies, and
misdemeanor disorderly
conduct and unauthorized use
of a motor vehicle. He was
found innocent of the riot and
¿rst-degree burglary charges.
Mastermind Everett
Thoren’s trial dragged on
through July of 1977. He
was sentenced to 150 days
in the Umatilla County Jail,
Pendleton: 30 days each
for second-degree criminal
mischief, unauthorized
use of a motor vehicle
and ¿rst-degree criminal
mischief, and 60 days for
carrying a dangerous weapon
with intent to use. Though
Thoren continued to insist he
has a claim to the property, he
told the court at sentencing
that he was through with the
matter.
Trial and sentencing
information for the remaining
¿ve defendants was not
found; the East Oregonian
archives from that period are
not searchable.
Ŷ
Renee Struthers is the
Community Records Editor
for the East Oregonian. See
the complete collection of
Out of the Vault columns at
eovault.blogspot.com
has been legal in some states
for years, fresh claims about
pediatric use have helped
prompt schools to look at the
issue, said Morgan Fox, a
spokesman for the Marijuana
Policy Project. For example,
the American Academy of
Pediatrics generally opposes
medical marijuana but issued
a statement a year ago saying
“exceptions should be made
for compassionate use in
children with debilitating or
life-limiting diseases.”
Proponents of marijuana’s
use as a treatment for every-
thing from seizures to chronic
pain trumpet the recent policy
changes as victories for
student health. Others who
doubt the wisdom of allowing
marijuana in schools raise
concerns whether the changes
will result in schools violating
federal laws that still outlaw
marijuana.
In Maine, Auburn Superin-
tendent Katy Grondin said it’s
important for school districts
to make sure medical mari-
juana doesn’t interfere with
education.
U.S. recruits tech leaders
to help disrupt IS group
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa
(AP) — With extremists
¿nding fertile ground for
recruitment online, the
White House is dispatching
top national security of¿-
cials to Silicon Valley to
seek the tech industry’s help
in disrupting the Islamic
State group and other terror-
ists.
At a high-level session
on Friday, leaders from
major technology and
Internet companies will
discuss ways to use tech-
nology to stop terrorists
from radicalizing people
online and spurring them
to violence, according to a
meeting agenda obtained
by The Associated Press.
Attorney General Loretta
Lynch, FBI Director James
Comey and Director of
National Intelligence James
Clapper are slated to attend
the meeting, along with
President Barack Obama’s
chief of staff and his top
counterterrorism adviser.
The meeting in San Jose,
California, comes as the
Obama administration tries
to beef up cooperation with
social media groups and
online companies whose
platforms are often used
by extremists to attract
followers,
disseminate
Continued from 1A
mass shootings. He said the
NRA refused to acknowledge
the government’s responsi-
bility to make legal products
safer, citing seatbelts and
child-proof medicine bottles
as examples.
Taking the stage at George
Mason University, Obama
accused the NRA of refusing
to participate in the town hall
despite having its headquar-
ters nearby.
“Since this is a main
reason they exist, you’d think
that they’d be prepared to
have a debate with the presi-
dent,” Obama said.
NRA spokesman Andrew
Arulanandam said beforehand
that the group saw “no reason
to participate in a public rela-
tions spectacle orchestrated
by the White House.” Several
NRA members were in the
audience for the event, which
was organized and hosted by
CNN. And the NRA pushed
back on Twitter in real time,
noting at one point “none of
the president’s orders would
have stopped any of the
recent mass shootings.”
The White House has
sought to portray the NRA,
the nation’s largest gun
group, as possessing a dispro-
portionate inÀuence over
lawmakers that has prevented
new gun laws despite polls
that show broad U.S. support
for measures like universal
background checks. Last
year, following a series of
mass shootings, Obama
pledged to “politicize” the
issue in an attempt to level the
playing ¿eld for gun control
supporters.
The American Firearms
Retailers Association, another
lobby group that represents
gun dealers, did participate
Thursday. Asked how busi-
ness had been since Obama
took of¿ce, Kris Jacob,
vice president of the group,
replied: “It’s been busy.”
“There’s a very serious
concern in this country about
personal security,” he added.
Obama’s actions on guns
have drawn major attention
in the presidential campaign,
with the Democratic candi-
dates backing Obama and
the Republicans unanimously
voicing opposition. Donald
Trump, addressing a rally in
Vermont just as Obama was
holding the town hall, said
he would eliminate gun-free
zones in schools on his ¿rst
day if elected to the White
House.
“You know what a
gun-free zone is for a sicko?
That’s bait,” Trump told the
crowd.
Obama’s
broadside
against the NRA came
two days after unveiling a
package of executive actions
aimed at keeping guns from
people who shouldn’t have
them. The centerpiece is
new federal guidance that
seeks to clarify who is “in the
business” of selling ¿rearms,
triggering a requirement to
get a license and conduct
background checks on all
“You know what
a gun-free zone
is for a sicko?
That’s bait.”
— Donald Trump,
Democratic
Presidential candidate
prospective buyers.
The plan has drawn intense
criticism from gun rights
groups that have accused
the president of trampling
on the Second Amendment
and railroading Congress
by taking action on his own
without new laws. Just after
his 2012 re-election, Obama
pushed hard for a bipartisan
gun control bill that collapsed
in the Senate, ending any
realistic prospects for a
legislative solution in the near
term.
Part of a concerted White
House push to promote the
effort, the town hall attracted
a number of high-pro¿le
¿gured in the gun debate,
including former Rep. Gabri-
elle Giffords, who was shot in
2011. Obama took questions
from Taya Kyle, whose late
husband was depicted in
the ¿lm “American Sniper,”
and Cleo Pendleton, whose
daughter was shot and killed
near Obama’s Chicago home.
Ahead of the town hall,
Obama put political candi-
dates on notice that he would
refuse to support or campaign
for anyone who “does not
support common-sense gun
reform” — including Demo-
crats.
All
the
candidates
running for the Democratic
presidential
nomination
support stricter gun laws,
so Obama’s declaration in
a New York Times op-ed
isn’t likely to have an impact
on the race to replace him.
Instead, it appeared aimed
at Democratic congressional
candidates from competitive
districts who might want
Obama’s support on the
campaign trail this year.
You Never Know What You’ll Find At
A Collectors West Gun & Knife Show!
January 9 th & 10 th
Hermiston
Conference Center
7t4BUBQ4VOBQt*OGPDPMMFDUPSTXFTUDPN
their message and organize
attacks. Obama said in
a recent speech that he
planned to “urge high-tech
and
law
enforcement
leaders to make it harder for
terrorists to use technology
to escape from justice.”
At Friday’s session,
government of¿cials plan to
offer tell technology experts
how terrorists use tech-
nology, including encryp-
tion. They’ll also discuss
ways the government and
tech companies can “help
others to create, publish, and
amplify alternative content
that would undercut ISIL,”
the agenda says, using an
alternative acronym for
the Islamic State. Another
goal is to identify ways for
law enforcement to better
identify terrorists online and
stop them from carrying out
attacks.
Increasingly,
digital
platforms have become
tools of radicalization used
by the Islamic State, a group
Obama recently denounced
as “bunch of killers with
good social media.” Slick
online magazines, highly
produced videos and social
networks like Facebook and
Twitter have all played roles
in the group’s propaganda
machine.
BURNS: Locals sympathized
with the group’s complaints
but disagreed with their tactics
Continued from 1A
OBAMA: NRA saw ‘no reason to participate in a public relations spectacle’
“It’s what the doctor and
the family decides is in the best
interest of the child,” she said,
adding that students won’t
be able to carry marijuana in
school. “We’re not getting
involved in it medically.”
Scott Gagnon, director of
Smart Approaches to Mari-
juana Maine, which opposes
legalization of marijuana
and fought the state’s law to
allow marijuana in schools,
said districts are right to be
cautious and work to prevent
recreational use of the
substance.
“We already know kids
report that drugs are sold and
exchanged on school property.
We don’t want to see this add
to that,” he said.
But Fox, the Marijuana
Policy Project spokesman,
said laws that allow access
to marijuana in school are
about providing children with
medicine they need to be able
to attend at all.
“These kids, just because
they’re sick, shouldn’t have
their education interrupted,”
he said.
here,” Ward said.
Bundy replied that his
complaints about federal
land management policies
are not being addressed.
“We’re getting ignored
again, sir,” said Bundy.
“I didn’t come to argue,”
Ward said, and Bundy
replied neither had he.
Ward said he would call
Bundy on Friday to talk
more.
Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown on Thursday called
the occupation “unlawful”
and said it had to end.
“It was instigated by
outsiders whose tactics we
Oregonians don’t agree
with. Those individuals
illegally occupying the
Malheur Wildlife Refuge
need to decamp immedi-
ately and be held account-
able,” she said.
On Wednesday night,
residents
attended
a
community meeting to air
their views about the two
dozen or so armed men
holed up at the headquarters
of the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge south of
Burns.
Locals said they sympa-
thized with the armed
group’s complaints about
federal land management
policies but disagreed with
their tactics.
At that meeting, Ward
said he hoped residents
would put up a united front
to peacefully resolve the
conÀict with the group.
“I’m here today to ask
those folks to go home and
let us get back to our lives,”
Ward said.
Schools were closed
following the seizure of the
refuge because of safety
concerns in the small town
in eastern Oregon’s high
desert.