Nightfall at Jackson Lake in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation AreaThe coastal borderlands have demanded my attention of late. Sea meets shore along 7,863 miles from California to Washington. Coastal borderwalking is brutal, and both unpredictable (storms, slides, weather) and predictable (tides, wave action, sea cliffs, beach stones driftwood tangles, etc.) obstacles are de rigueur. I have done small stints at different times in my life and while I generally love the coast I generally hate doing serious borderwalking along it.
The area I wanted to visit in particular burned for the second consecutive year in 2008, fulfilling all the dire prophecies for conflagration posted its way. This summer may be the third year in a row that Northern California and Southern Oregon burn through much the same areas.
Quite a few folks might be thinking justly so. Humboldt and Trinity counties on the north and Mendocino county on the south, form what is infamously known as the Emerald Triangle, an area where growing pot is a major industry. In the two northern counties marijuana production by some counts is the base industry. If everybody isn't growing it the ones who aren't are providing all of the ancillary products necessary to sustain the industry, including an accepting or at least passive attitude.
Marijuana has been legal to use in California for medical purposes since 1996. Since then other laws defining the scope and sources of that medical marijuana have passed almost as often as California forests have burned. It is legal to possess up to 28.5 grams of marijuana if you have a doctor's prescription and it is not an arrestable offense if you don't have a note from the doc. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) lists the following additional consequences on its web site:
- The cultivation or processing of any amount of marijuana is punishable by up to sixteen months in state prison. There is an exception to the cultivation prohibition for patients or patients’ caregivers who possess or cultivate for personal use by the patient upon approval of a physician.
- The laws regarding possession and cultivation of marijuana do not apply to patients or patients’ primary caregivers who possess or cultivate marijuana for the personal medical use of the patient, upon the recommendation or approval of a physician.
- Selling marijuana in any amount is punishable by 2 – 4 years in the state prison. Giving away less than 28.5 grams is a misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine of up to $100.
- Sale of marijuana to a minor is punishable by 3 – 5 years in prison.
- For anyone under the age of 21 convicted of any of the above offenses, the state may suspend the offender’s driver’s license for up to one year.
- Possession of paraphernalia is a civil fine of $200-$300 for the first offense and goes up to $5,000-$6,000 for a fifth or subsequent violation within a five-year period.
If you are somewhat confused by this string of laws you are not alone although many connected to using and/or cultivating explain the seeming contradictions with both volume and the sureness of conviction. The bottom line is that there is a lot of pot being grown for so-called medical consumption. The people who sell it even pay taxes on those sales so the government is at least a tax partner of these operations.
More to come...
