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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 11, 2019)
NATION Tuesday, June 11, 2019 East Oregonian A7 Medical pot takes hit when weed legal for all By GILLIAN FLACCUS AND ANGELIKI KASTANIS Associated Press PORTLAND — When states legalize pot for all adults, long-standing medi- cal marijuana programs take a big hit, in some cases los- ing more than half their reg- istered patients in just a few years, according to a data analysis by The Associated Press. Much of the decline comes from consumers who, ill or not, got medical cards in their states because it was the only way to buy marijuana legally and then discarded them when broader legaliza- tion arrived. But for people who truly rely on marijuana to control ailments such as nausea or cancer pain, the arrival of so-called recre- ational cannabis can mean fewer and more expensive options. Robin Beverett, a 47-year- old disabled Army veteran, said she resumed taking a powerful prescription mood stabilizer to control her anx- iety and PTSD when the cost of her medical marijuana nearly tripled after Cali- fornia began general sales. Before last year, an eighth of an ounce of dry marijuana fl ower cost her $35. Now it’s approaching $100, Beverett said. “It’s ridiculous. The prices are astronomical,” said Bev- erett, who moved to Sacra- mento from Texas because medical marijuana is illegal there. “Going to the dispen- sary is just out of the question if you’re on any kind of fi xed income.” It’s a paradox playing out nationwide as more states take the leap from care-cen- tered medical programs to recreational models aligned with a multibillion-dollar global industry. States see a “massive exodus” of medical patients AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus Two-time cancer survivor and medical marijuana cardholder Bill Blazina, 73, smokes a marijuana joint on the deck of his neigh- bor’s home in Waldport. Blazina also uses a high-potency marijuana oil as a medical marijuana patient but he can’t aff ord it at a recreational marijuana store. Blazina has learned how to make his own oil in a rice cooker after watching online videos. when they legalize marijuana for all adults — and then, in many cases, the remain- ing ones struggle, said David Mangone, director of gov- ernment affairs for Ameri- cans for Safe Access. “Some of the products that these patients have relied on for consistency — and have used over and over for years — are disappearing off the shelves to market products that have a wider appeal,” he said. Cost also goes up, a prob- lem that’s compounded because many of those who stay in medical programs are low-income and rely on Social Security disability, he said. ––– In Oregon, where the medical program shrank the most following recreational legalization, nearly two- thirds of patients gave up their medical cards, the AP found. As patients exited, the market followed: The num- ber of medical-only retail shops fell from 400 to two, and hundreds of growers who contracted with individ- ual patients to grow specifi c strains walked away. Now, some of the 28,000 Helicopter crashes on roof of NYC skyscraper, killing pilot medical patients left are struggling to fi nd affordable medical marijuana products they’ve relied on for years. While the state is awash in dry marijuana fl ower that’s dirt cheap, the specialized oils, tinctures and potent edi- bles used to alleviate severe illnesses can be harder to fi nd and more expensive to buy. “Lots of people have started trying to fi gure out how to make these concen- trates and edibles themselves in their kitchen,” said Travis MacKenzie, who runs TJ’s Gardens, which provides free medical cannabis to children with epilepsy. “There are things that we don’t really want people to do at home, but the market conditions are such that people are trying to do more at home.” The numbers compiled by the AP through public records requests and publicly available documents provide a snapshot of the evolution of marijuana as more states — Michigan was last in the door, and Illinois is about to follow — legalize pot for all adults. Ten states have both med- ical and recreational mar- kets. Four of them — Ore- gon, Nevada, Colorado, Alaska — have the combina- tion of an established recre- ational marketplace and data on medical patients. The AP analysis found all four saw a drop in medical patients after broader legalization. In Alaska, the state with the second-biggest decline, medical cardholders dropped by 63% after recreational sales began in 2016, followed by Nevada with nearly 40% since 2017 and Colorado with 19% since 2014. The largest of all the legal markets, California, doesn’t keep data on medi- cal patients, but those who use it say their community has been in turmoil since recreational pot debuted last year. That’s partly because the state ended unlicensed cannabis cooperatives where patients shared their home- grown pot for free. There is limited scientifi c data backing many of the health claims made by med- ical marijuana advocates, and the U.S. government still classifi es cannabis in any form as a controlled sub- stance like LSD and cocaine. Still, the popularity of medical pot is rising as more states legalize it. There are 33 such states, including the politically conservative recent additions of Okla- homa and Utah. Oklahoma has among the more liberal guidelines for use and has approved more than 100,000 patient licenses since voters backed legalization last June. Getting a precise nation- wide count of medical patients is impossible because California, Washington and Maine don’t keep data. How- ever, absent those states, the AP found at the end of last year nearly 1.4 million peo- ple were active patients in a medical marijuana program. The AP estimates if those states were added the num- ber would increase by about 1 million. P E N D L E T O N By JIM MUSTIAN AND JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK — A heli- copter crashed on the roof of a rain-shrouded midtown Manhattan skyscraper Mon- day, killing the pilot and briefl y triggering memories of 9/11, after an erratic trip across some of the nation’s most restricted airspace. Authorities said they did not suspect terrorism. The crash near Times Square and Trump Tower shook the 750-foot AXA Equitable building, sparked a fi re, and forced offi ce work- ers to fl ee on elevators and down stairs, witnesses and offi cials said. The pilot was the only person aboard, and there were no other reports of inju- ries, authorities said. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, or why the Agusta A109E was fl ying in a driving down- pour with low cloud cover and in the tightly controlled airspace of midtown Man- hattan. A fl ight restriction in effect since President Donald Trump took offi ce bans air- craft from fl ying below 3,000 feet within a 1-mile radius of Trump Tower, which is less than a half-mile from the crash site. “There’s something mys- terious here,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told CNN, saying offi - cials were scrutinizing video of a “very erratic” fl ight and authorities needed to fi nd out more about the pilot at the time he decided to take off. One lawmaker called for “non-essential” helicopter fl ights over Manhattan to be banned. The pilot, identifi ed by his employer as Tim McCor- mack, was a former fi re chief in upstate Clinton, New York. With 15 years of experience fl ying helicopters and sin- gle-engine airplanes, he was certifi ed as a fl ight instruc- tor last year, according to Federal Aviation Administra- th of AP Photo/Richard Drew New York City Police and Fire Department personnel secure the scene in front of a building in midtown Manhattan where a helicopter crash-landed on Monday. tion records. The East Clinton Volun- teer Fire Department posted on Facebook that McCor- mack’s “technical knowl- edge and ability to com- mand an emergency were exceptional.” The 19-year-old helicop- ter was linked to a real estate company founded by Ital- ian-born investor Daniele Bodini, according to FAA records. The helicopter went down about 11 minutes after taking off from a heliport along the East River, a little more than a mile away. Police Commis- sioner James O’Neill said it may have been returning to its home airport in Linden, New Jersey. The director at Linden Municipal Airport, Paul Dudley, described McCor- mack as “a highly seasoned” and “very well regarded” pilot who was a regular at the airfi eld. He suspects that a mechanical problem or the weather “overwhelmed him and the helicopter,” Dudley said. “I believe he tried to get on the roof and spare the peo- ple on the ground.” McCormack, 58, chron- icled some of his helicopter fl ights on his Facebook page, including a 2014 emergency landing caused by a bird strike. He had been conduct- ing a sightseeing tour over Manhattan when the bird penetrated the windshield of his Bell BHT 407, causing McCormack to land unex- pectedly at the West 30th Street Heliport. “It was pretty much like an explosion going off in your cockpit,” McCormack told television station WABC at the time. The crash happened shortly before 2 p.m. Mon- day, when clouds obscured the roof of the building. Res- cue vehicles swarmed to the scene a few blocks from Rockefeller Center. Pedro Rodriguez, a pas- try line cook at Le Bernar- din, a well-known restau- rant in the AXA Equitable building, said workers got an announcement telling every- one to exit, and he later heard from people around him that there was a fi re on the roof. The evacuation was not chaotic, Rodriguez said, but he was rattled because he immediately thought of the Sept. 11 attacks. “It’s scary when some- thing like this happens,” he said. Videos posted by onlook- ers showed emergency vehi- cles in the street, but no obvious damage to the sky- scraper. The fi re depart- ment later tweeted a photo of the helicopter’s wreckage that showed piles of burned debris on the roof. july HOSTED BY THE PENDLETON VFW “LET’ ER BUCK” POST 922 10 AM Thursday, July 4, 2019 THEME: “Only in America” Horse Staging Area: Western Auto/Baxter Parking Lot Line-Up Area: SW Dorion Street From City of Pendleton building on SW Dorion to Main Street to SW Court to the Convention Center Any Individual, Organization or Business - ALL ARE WELCOME All Entries will receive a participation ribbon. Trophies will be awarded in the following 14 Categories: MOTORIZED - Best ClubMOTORIZED - Judges’ Choice BUSINESS/COMMERCIAL • FIRST RESPONDERS & ARMED FORCES PEOPLE WITH PETS • BAND / DRUM & BUGLE • YOUTH DANCE & DRILL GROUPS • FLOATS • CIVIC GROUPS & SERVICE CLUBS YOUTH GROUPS • EQUESTRIAN (2 riders or less) EQUESTRIAN GROUPS • EQUESTRIAN GROUPS - Royalty HORSE & BUGGY/WAGON In Addition, the VFW will award the “Patriot Trophy” to the entrant with the most overall votes (Winner of Patriot Trophy not eligible for additional trophies) May be picked up at the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce, Dean’s Athletic, DG Gifts, Elite Guns & Tactical and the Pendleton Downtown Association You may also mail requests to VFW Post 922 • PO Box 787 • Pendleton, OR 97801 or email requests to: fbradbury@yahoo.com Questions? Call Fred Bradbury at 541-377-7474 MASTER PRINTERS N W Printing • Copy Center • Graphic Design
