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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 2018)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Friday, November 2, 2018 Medical marijuana cardholders decline in Oregon By SHAUN HILL The Daily Courier GRANTS PASS — Med- ical marijuana patients and growers in Josephine County and across the state are aban- doning the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program. Long considered a source of Oregon’s black market, medical marijuana is fast falling victim to a combina- tion of red tape and a differ- ent kind of market force: the convenience of recreational retail sales. “Medical could officially have a gravestone,” said Kit Doyle, who formerly sold medical marijuana but switched to hemp products through his business, the Murphy Hemp Company. The number of patients registered with the OMMP is half of what it was a year ago. Statewide, it dropped 41 per- cent, from 59,137 to 34,892. In the county, it was almost 50 percent — from 7,027 to 3,540. The number of regis- tered growers also dropped precipitously. Statewide, it went from 23,175 to 13,959 — 40 percent. In the county, it went from 2,957 to 1,668 — a 44 percent drop. Doyle and several indus- try watchers think the num- bers will continue to go down. Timothy Bullard/The Daily Courier via AP Diana Calvert, manager of River City Retail marijuana dispensary in Merlin, stocks the shelves with product on Oct. 26. Medical marijuana has been legal in Oregon since 1998, when voters created a system that allowed regis- tered persons to grow their own marijuana — or obtain it from someone who grew it for them. But even as the Oregon Legislature took steps to allow dispensaries for med- ical marijuana, a sea change occurred in 2014, when vot- ers legalized recreational marijuana, allowing retail sales to anyone over 21 and setting up commercial production. It also allows people to grow up to four recreational plants with no registration requirements, except where prohibited by local statute, such as within the city limits of Grants Pass. To feed those outlets, the state issued licenses to approved growers and operators. As of this week, there have been 475 applications to grow, process, sell or test marijuana in Josephine County for the retail market. Reflecting the region’s con- ducive-to-cannabis climate, the vast majority, 399, were for recreational farms. Medical marijuana patients who buy at retail dis- pensaries are able to avoid sale taxes that can reach 20 percent, although they must pay an annual $200 applica- tion fee to be an OMMP-reg- istered patient. The hassle of having to pony up $200 for the annual application fee, and the pro- liferation of dispensaries sell- ing recreational pot, appears to be a factor in the decline. “I repeatedly hear from customers,” said Diana Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY Very windy; mostly cloudy Times of clouds and sun Mostly cloudy with a few showers Intervals of clouds and sunshine Periods of clouds and sunshine 63° 47° 60° 50° PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 60° 43° 55° 41° 53° 36° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 68° 49° 62° 50° 65° 45° 60° 41° OREGON FORECAST 59° 36° ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 58/52 59/41 67/41 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 65/48 Lewiston 59/50 69/49 Astoria 60/51 Pullman Yakima 65/44 58/48 64/45 Portland Hermiston 62/50 The Dalles 68/49 Salem Corvallis 64/41 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 58/41 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 64/43 60/36 56/38 Ontario 63/39 Caldwell Burns WINDS (in mph) 61/37 58/27 0.00" 0.00" 0.03" 6.45" 7.80" 7.31" Today Medford 63/42 Sat. W 10-20 W 20-30 Boardman Pendleton WSW 7-14 WSW 7-14 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 60/26 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 7:36 a.m. 5:41 p.m. 1:31 a.m. 3:41 p.m. New First Full Last Nov 7 Nov 15 Nov 22 Nov 29 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 91° in Camarillo, Calif. Low 1° in Bodie State Park, Calif. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY By AUBREY WIEBER Capital Bureau Perhaps there is some- thing to all the fundraising, television ads and “get out the vote” efforts. According to the Secre- tary of State’s Office, 2018 is seeing more voter activ- ity so far than any other midterm election in Oregon history. By the end of the day Tuesday, 657,480 ballots had been collected through- out the state. That’s a 23 percent increase over the previous high set in 2014, according to the state. Per- centage wise, however, the turnout hasn’t changed much. The increase is credited by the Secretary of State’s Office to increases in pop- ulation and registered vot- ers. The actual percentage of ballots returned is on par Wolves kill fourth calf in Fort Klamath area Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s ice 50s cold front — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays www.eastoregonian.com To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to www.eastoregonian.com and click on ‘Subscribe’ East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday and postal holidays, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Copyright © 2018, EO Media Group 60s 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low KLAMATH FALLS (AP) — Wildlife officials say wolves killed a calf in south- ern Oregon, marking the fourth kill by the Rogue Pack in the Fort Klamath area. The Herald and News reports state Department of Fish and Wildlife officials confirmed Tuesday that the Subscriber services: For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops or delivery concerns call 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Local home delivery Savings off cover price EZPay $14.50 41 percent 52 weeks $173.67 41 percent 26 weeks $91.86 38 percent 13 weeks $47.77 36 percent *EZ Pay = one-year rate with a monthly credit or debit card/check charge Single copy price: $1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday Circulation Manager: Bonny Tuller, 541-966-0828 Gendron also blamed the drop in the number of grow- ers on the county’s ongo- ing attempts to restrict com- mercial marijuana operations in rural residential zones, although he mostly blamed new state regulations. “The county shares a minority of the blame,” he said. “It’s really the state Legislature which has done the absolute most damage. When they changed report- ing rules for the OMMP, they put into place barriers that destroyed patient-grower relationships.” Sheriff Dave Daniel guessed that the number of growers has dropped because of price drops associated with oversupply of marijuana. The state never set a limit on licenses or production. “I think it’s econom- ics,” Daniel said. “You saw a green rush. It took a year to hit home. Everybody came in and started growing. I think they found it difficult to get rid of the product, especially legally. “I think there was an over- abundance of marijuana and the market was full. That’s my guess.” Calvert said dispensa- ries are paying about $1,600 per pound for the best prod- uct, and as little as $200 per pound for lesser quality prod- uct. Just a couple years ago, pot prices below $1,000 per pound were unheard of. Doyle, who now sells hemp products, said enforce- ment actions have caused some medical marijuana growers to leave the OMMP program. “The medical industry thrived on the black market,” Doyle said. “They’re shutting that down.” He also said that peo- ple are able to buy mari- juana online or through social media connections, which may be more convenient and doesn’t require OMMP cards. Early voting hits new high for midterm elections 67° 60° 58° 35° 72° (1988) 8° (2003) 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Albany 63/45 0.03" Trace 0.04" 8.15" 13.70" 10.03" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 55/38 64/46 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date HERMISTON Enterprise 63/47 65/49 65° 56° 56° 36° 76° (1901) 12° (1935) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 60/48 Aberdeen 58/40 64/44 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 59/50 Calvert of River City Retail marijuana dispensary in Merlin. “They say, ‘I let my medical card expire. It’s too expensive to renew. I’ll just pay the taxes.’” Or, as Rob Bovett, who helped write the new rules as legal counsel for the Associa- tion of Oregon Counties, put it: “Those that were getting an OMMP card as a ruse to get marijuana for recreational purposes ... no longer need to continue the ruse after we legalized recreational marijuana.” Those who remain OMMP patients include heavy users and those who live in an apartment or other location where they can’t grow their own. For those patients who rely on a grower, finding one can be difficult because their numbers are diminishing, patient advocates say. “The regulations around providing for other patients are quite onerous,” said Cedar Grey, a Williams-area grower who sits on the Ore- gon Cannabis Commission, a state advisory body. “I actu- ally think that’s the biggest factor. “Many patients are just unable to find a grower to supply them. Previously, I think it was relatively easy for a patient who didn’t know anyone, in relatively short order, to find a grower to provide free or low-cost cannabis. “With the changes they’ve made (to the OMMP pro- gram), it’s much more diffi- cult to care for other patients. Therefore, the number of growers willing to do that has dropped significantly.” As of this year, medical marijuana growers who are supplying patients with mar- ijuana must use an online state reporting system that tracks movement of prod- uct. Some say the tracking system, known as METRC, is difficult to learn and use. The state provides training, but growers don’t like it, and some might drop out because of it. “The new reporting sys- tem is something people aren’t going to be able to adapt to,” said Pete Gen- dron, president of the Oregon SunGrowers Guild, a locally based association of growers. “The training is inadequate. The tech support is also woe- fully inadequate. “It takes a minimum of 10-12 hours to access basic functionality of the system,” Gendron continued. “I don’t know a single person who is completely proficient. It’s not an easy system to use. You can’t really expect a 70-year- old to navigate it.” Gendron expects the num- ber of registered medical marijuana growers to con- tinue to drop. He himself has stopped growing for oth- ers, saying he doesn’t have the time. He previously sup- plied eight patients, allowing him to grow 48 plants, or six mature plants per client. Gendron said the situation for patients is made all the more difficult if they are low income — as are more than half of OMMP patients. “They don’t have the money to go to the corner dis- pensary,” he said. That might lead some to return to pills to treat their conditions, he said. with past mid-term years at 24 percent. The state Elections Divi- sion said that as of Wednes- day morning, 30 percent of registered Democrats have returned their ballots, as have 30 percent of Repub- licans and 25 percent of Independents. Independent Party of Oregon candidate Pat- rick Starnes dropped out of the race Tuesday morning, endorsing Gov. Kate Brown. Though Starnes suspended his campaign, he did so after the deadline to withdraw and will remain on the bal- lot. His decision came after 28,000 voters registered with the party had already returned their ballots. They can’t change their vote despite Starnes’ decision. The most active county in early voting is Wheeler, a small, Eastern Oregon county where 47 percent of ballots have been returned. Washington County has had the lowest early voter par- ticipation with 19 percent. Multnomah County, by far the most populated, had 131,338, or 24 percent of its 538,700 registered voters, return ballots as of Tuesday evening. Marion County is com- paratively low in early vot- ing, with 22 percent of bal- lots received. Polk County has recorded 25 percent of its ballots returned. Oregon allows voters to send in ballots before Elec- tion Day, with a deadline of 8 p.m. Tuesday. Ballots must be received by that time to be counted. With only a few days before the election, the Sec- retary of State’s Office is advising all voters to now drop their ballot in a col- lection box rather than mail them. dead calf found Friday on ranch lands in Wood River Valley was killed by wolves. Three other dead calves were found over a three-day period last week. Department wildlife biolo- gist Tom Collum says person- nel are taking turns camping in a field near the ranch, and they are using non-lethal meth- ods to deter wolves, including sirens, bonfires, strobe lights and cracker shells. Officials are also check- ing remote cameras daily to track movement. They have set up traps to capture wolves, so they can place tracking collars. ADVERTISING Regional Publisher and Revenue Director: Christopher Rush 541-278-2669 • crush@eomediagroup.com Advertising Services: Angela Treadwell 541-966-0827 • atreadwell@eastoregonian.com Grace Bubar 541-276-2214 • gbubar@eastoregonian.com Multimedia Consultants: • Kimberly Macias 541-278-2683 • kmacias@eastoregonian.com • Jeanne Jewett 541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com • Dayle Stinson 541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com • Audra Workman 541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com Corrections The East Oregonian works hard to be accu- rate and sincerely regrets any errors. 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