For the first time, federal biologists are assessing whether illegal marijuana gardens in the back woods of the West could threaten the extinction of a wild animal.
Disasters from the do-it-yourself drug have been recorded primarily on the West Coast, where states have passed medical marijuana laws, in a phenomenon reminiscent of meth lab mishaps, but not as common.
Statewide, 15 out of 1,000 Oregonians are medical marijuana patients. Jackson County has more than twice that many, and Josephine County has more than triple the state average,
The line between legal medical marijuana providers and illegal operations has been blurry every since the passing of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act of 1998, and online advertising of the drug is adding to the problem.
The debate over how much tax money recreational marijuana laws could produce is playing an outsize role in the campaigns for and against legalization - and both sides concede they're not really sure what would happen.
State Rep. Peter Buckley told the Mail Tribune newspaper he supports regulating marijuana in a manner similar to the regulation of alcohol under the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. Legalization would take the "black market" out of Oregon, he said.
Some Oregon law enforcement officers argue that charging membership fees to belong to a medical marijuana club is the equivalent of selling the drug, and say more busts like this one are likely to come
Oregon sheriffs argue that the 1968 U.S. Gun Control Act prohibits selling firearms to drug addicts, and they say that includes medical marijuana card holders.
Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters faces a showdown at the Oregon Supreme Court on March 3 with a local medical marijuana patient who was denied a concealed handgun permit.
An unprecedented marijuana-legalization measure in California trailed in early returns Tuesday after a spirited campaign that pitted the political and law enforcement establishment against well-funded activists seeking to end the prohibition of pot.