Keizer Medical Marijuana Case Ignores Oregon Law

The law could not possibly be any clearer or plainer on any reasonable standard.

(KEIZER, Ore.) - Anthony Wyatt Beasley probably did not wake up Friday, October 19th 2007 thinking he would be a lightning rod and a focal point in a legal dispute, but that is what he has become. A standard bearer, willing or not, for the medical marijuana law of Oregon and the thousands of card holders in the state.

When Keizer Police arrested Mr. Beasley, a legal and law-abiding Oregon Medical Marijuana Program card holder, for the alleged 'crime' of making hash oil, something any and every sane reading of the law clearly allows, they managed to mobilize almost every supporter of the law, which was passed TWICE by the statewide voters of Oregon, into support for Mr. Beasley and opposition to the persecution, harassment and violation of his rights by those who are supposed to enforce the law regardless of their personal feelings about it.

There are even many calls for Mr. Beasley to sue the City of Keizer, a city just north of the state capital Salem, Oregon, the Keizer Police Department, the Marion County District Attorney's office, Police Captain Jeff Kuhns personally, any DA signing off on this mess personally as well as the judge who signed the search warrant personally. Some would also like nothing more than to see the landlord who is apparently evicting Mr. Beasley over his legal activities and the so-called 'ex roommate' who made the ridiculous accusations of pipe bombs when all they saw was PVC pipe (as if there is no use for PVC pipe other than to make pipe bombs) sued into fiscal oblivion as well.

The law could not possibly be any clearer or plainer on any reasonable standard.

The Oregon Revised Statutes define "usable marijuana" – that is, what substances qualify as medicinal marijuana – as "the dried leaves and flowers of the plant Cannabis family Moraceae, and any mixture or preparation thereof, that are appropriate for medical use."

The Oregon Administrative Rules – a set of legally-binding rules that further govern the medical marijuana program – are even more explicit, declaring proper "the resin extracted from (the marijuana plant); and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of the plant or its resin."

How many applicable ways, in context, can one reasonably define 'any' and 'every' that does not include hash oil? I would say ZERO. I do not know by what tortured line of unreason these violators of the public trust arrived at the opinion that hash oil is not included in 'any' and 'every' in the context of the law. They refuse to say, hiding like cowards behind 'procedural rules'.

As reported in the Keizertimes "Lori Evans, a deputy district attorney for Marion County, said the case is set to go before a grand jury next month." She cited bar association guidelines in declining to discuss the intricacies of the case.

The Keizertimes also quoted Evans saying, "The case is pending, so I can't talk about the merits of the case."

I'll just bet she can't. If she wanted to she could, but coward that she is she refuses.

It is too bad that grand jury hearings are not open to the public. It is also too bad that grand juries only get to hear one side so that it is said any lawyer worth the name 'can indict a ham sandwich'.

But once either the grand jury kicks the BS travesty, or if they do indict once it is kicked in court, we can only hope that the civil lawsuit filed will so chastise these wrongdoers that no one will ever even think of violating the rights of legal and law abiding OMMA patients ever again.

None of these folks should sleep well... for they have flushed their futures completely, and who knows how much damage financially they will eventually have caused the City of Keizer and the innocent taxpayers there who did nothing wrong other than to trust these criminals with enforcing the law.

Salem-News.com Marijuana Coverage

Where and How to Smoke Legal Marijuana without Fear of Arrest in the U.S.

Eulogy of a Great Warrior: Hoss Plourde

The Ripple Effect How Marijuana Laws Are Impacting Society

Audit the Audit

Welcome Home, Tom

Comments Leave a comment on this story.

All comments and messages are approved by people and self promotional links or unacceptable comments are denied.

marijuana-license October 30, 2010 8:49 pm (Pacific time)

Thanks for sharing information for Medical marijuana bill in I really impressed and want some more stuffs again for this post.

bob June 20, 2009 12:12 pm (Pacific time)

I could go for ome hash oil right now.

Felisha November 6, 2008 10:43 am (Pacific time)

i think that you should sue them.. that was soo wrong, and they had no right to do that

Neal Feldman November 24, 2007 12:11 pm (Pacific time)

Anthony Beasley - My suggestion to you is to sue the living crap out of them. Send a note to Leland Berger who is legal counsel for Voter Power... if he won't take your case i am certain a thousand other lawyers will.. on contingency where if they get you nothing you pay them nothing. Sue them all. Sue Kuhns, Chuck Lee, any DA whose name is attached to the case in any way, the judge who signed the bogus order, your convenient 'ex roommate' who made the pipe bomb call, as well as the city of Keizer, the Keizer police dept, and the Marion County DA's office. That and continue to speak out. They have given you a megaphone so use it. Talk to legislators (such as I have done with Brian Clem and Peter Courtney) about getting laws passed to punish (my suggestion is with a class C felony) any govt employee or agent, direct or indirect, or citizen who impedes or infringes upon therights of or harasses or persecutes in any way an OMMA card holder for their legal activities under the OMMA. Those are my suggestions... and do keep in touch. My email is listed under my heading in the staff page for salem-news.com. Their holding you in jail for 5 days when arresting you on thursday would have meant just a couple hours in processing was clear and blatant harassment. Best of luck to you and anything I can do to help you nail these goon squad creyins to the wall just ask me. Ah well...

anthony beasley November 18, 2007 1:10 am (Pacific time)

I was just curious what people think I should do at this point. Any suggestions? So far, due to this, I have already lost my home, been publicly displayed and embarassed, spent 5 days in jail, lost 2 of my pets and have had other, more personal problems arise due to this. Not to mention that my face was plastered everywhere, so I've even gone so far as to try and change my appearance. You try and find a home or a job after people see you on the ten o clock news with the heading "....marijuana....class 'A' felony....". Any suggestions that are helpful would be great. (and any job or home offers might help as well at this time!)

Anthony, can you email us at newsroom@salem-news.com?

Neal Feldman November 2, 2007 2:45 am (Pacific time)

selm34 - I rushed to no judgment and have taken into account every fact available. The police have stated their position and it blows chunks. Their claims make absolutely no sense in the context of the law and I have the utmost respect for law officers who follow and obey the law. As the facts have shown this does not include Captain Kuhns and his merry band of Keizer thuggish Goons. Fot alleged law officers such as Kuhns and Co I have nothing but the deepest disrespect and contempt. They ignore laws they do not agree with and harass and persecute innocent and legal law abiding citizens. And your assinine idea that 'oh let it run through the courts' entirely misses the point of this being an absolute abuse of power and process under color of authority. You make it sound like there are no harms at all to Mr Beasley. Need I remind you that because they CHOSE to arrest him on friday instead of thursday or monday he has already served 4-5 days IN JAIL never having committed, much less been convicted of, any crime. And this is perfectly ok to you? Maybe someone should put YOU in that situation and I guarantee that your opinion would diametrically change as to whether it was ok or not. The 'two sides' of an issue are sometimes Right and Wrong, such as in the case in point here. Neither you nor anyone else has produced a scintilla of anything to oppose my position in this or to support the position of the Keizer Keystone Kops (KKK). I guess even thuggish Goon Squads have their supporters. Ah well...

selm34 November 2, 2007 12:14 am (Pacific time)

Well Mr. Feldman, here is my response to you and not to be aligned to Festus as you think. I am one who waits to hear everything and NOT rush to any conclusion until all sides have been heard COMMENTARY or not. Thus, the whole reason we have a COURT system. As for you, yes it is only YOUR COMMENTARY and your right to voice your opinion same as MINE. There is ALWAYS two sides to every story, but it is my OPINION you want to convict the police before learning all the facts. And unless your have the police report, which you make no reference too, I would think you would take that into consideration. BUT, you want to hide behind the word COMMENTARY as your way to voice your convictions toward the police. How fair is it to the officers who enforce the laws you yourself put into place by voting into office the lawmakers. Now do not get me wrong, I believe commentary is good and everyone has a right to voice their opinion, but not in a childish and unprofessional manner. By the way, when was it the last time you won the "lottery" that some people speak of, and the POLICE busted down your door for ILLEGAL activity. The reality of it, one of two things will occur. Mr. Beasley goes to jail and the police followed the law, OR the police lose and will probably get sued and the taxpayers foot the bill!!!! Bottom line, we can sit here all day and lamblast each other, but society has to live by the very laws created or risk becoming a third world country ruled by warlords and endless violence.

Henry Ruark November 1, 2007 2:18 pm (Pacific time)

Hank Ruark here, to endorse both Commentary and Tim's rejoinder above. Been writing re Mannix as man for years; he now trading past influence as denial of realities public enforced on him directly. Re "renegade", depends on choice of definition. Prefer to think others moved far away from centuries-taught basic principles of democratic journalism --and agree with Tim our job is to make people think, impossible for any without full, open, honest reporting AND dialog.

GreenFloyd November 1, 2007 3:33 am (Pacific time)

There is a forum on the NY Times about "legalization," here's what I wrote: 10/31/2007 10:21:10 PM Thank you Mr. Stephen J. Dubner and NY Times for bringing together – for the most part - a wealth of talent and experience on drug policy reform. However, there are still too many empty chairs at this virtual table. And with all due respect to you and those already at the table, the dearth of voices from the streets to the precincts renders this discussion rather pointless. Without the views of consumers, dealers and others involved in the drug business, along with law enforcement itself at the table this is no more than another boring academic exercise between “experts.” Nonetheless with them or without them, we must move forward, discard past failures (and those who cling to them), and most importantly restore the rule of law. The problem has gone way beyond mere “drugs,” although drug policy reform is critical to addressing it. The problem now revolves around the rule of law itself and how to restore respect for it and those who enforce it. Without respect for the law, there is no law. Anarchy and brutality prevail. Current drug laws are mostly unenforceable and widely ignored by the general population. And for good reason; unless you are black or fit some “profile,” even with record numbers of arrests for possession of marijuana, the average pot smoker has a less than 1 in 15 chance of being held accountable for his or her “crime.” The same is basically true of every other “illegal” drug. I am confident society can withstand legalized drugs. However, I know society cannot withstand this current level of lawlessness without eventual collapse of the criminal justice system, perhaps even government itself. This is particularly relevant now as the U.S. Senate considers Bush’s nominee to replace former Attorney General Gonzales and take over what has already been described in this paper as a “broken,” “dysfunctional,” “crony-filled” Dept. of Justice. In addition to “torture memos” and “water-boarding” I hope the deliberators might check out “Reno911!” and check-in on the culture of fear, hate and ridicule now associated with the rule of law and those who enforce it. The fish rots from the head down; the AG must be the biggest defender of the rule of law under the Constitution. I haven’t followed the hearings closely, yet I suspect the connection between our drug laws and this social breakdown all around us have gone largely ignored. Just like the drug laws. My suggestion to “reformers” is to focus on restoration of the rule of law itself. Drug or pot “legalization” may be fun to debate, but it will never be a central issue to most people, even the consumers themselves are ambivalent at best. Unless you or some one close to you are directly affected, most people will never care enough or get very excited about the injustice of the drug war. As much as possible reformers need to refer back to the bigger issue, the destruction of the rule of law itself as evidenced in the day to day “drug related” carnage and crime the people see everyday on their TV or read about in their local papers and web sites, or increasingly see in their own communities. Frankly, I think we need to become the new “Law and Order” movement. We must meet law enforcement on their own turf and keep repeating the obvious: DRUGS ARE OUT OF CONTROL! TODAY’S DRUG LAWS ARE MOSTLY UNENFORCEABLE AND WIDELY IGONRED MAKING A MOCKERY OF THE LAW ITSELF, AND THOSE WHO ENFORCE IT! Legalization and careful regulation is the only proven effective way to control drugs, protect kids and restore the rule of law. Thank you for your kind consideration…

Neal Feldman October 31, 2007 1:20 pm (Pacific time)

selm34 - You, like ol Festus, seem to claim there is a 'real story' here, you allusion to 'both sides' suggests this. But like ol Festus you refuse to present what you claim 'the other side' is. I assure you that, as others have pointed out, my COMMENTARY (opinion piece) is not a news article but a personal commentary on the issue. Commentaries are what I tend to write here. But if you read the article you should see that I point out the facts... so what -other side' is there? Police Captain Kuhns of the Keizer Goon Squad has no legal leg to stand on. Can you show otherwise? Hmmm? Clearly Festus could not, maybe you will fare better. Ah well...

HOPEBME October 31, 2007 1:14 pm (Pacific time)

If by some assinine reason Mr. Beasley is convicted, and lucky enough to get off with just probation, he will not only lose his right to grow Marijuana for other medically needy patients who depend on him, he will no longer be allowed to use it himself (even though his Doctor obviously thinks it is helping him.) His Doctors decision will be completely disregarded by the state and he will be told that if he even takes one toke of a pipe that he will be jailed. This will be carefully monitored by regular UA's. If he is in pain, so be it. No one will care. I know. Probation officers and judges have no sympathy. They simply regard you as just another drug addict. Your Doctors opinion means nothing! And it doesn't matter if Marijuana is the only thing keeping you alive. Sad but true. So, I too hope Mr. Beasley fights this to the end because our "justice system" simply does not care how many people are affected or how it affects them. All they care about is a conviction.

A. Stern October 31, 2007 11:55 am (Pacific time)

Hostility?
To James - who complained about the hostile tone of this opinion/editorial: if the feds along with some local boys stopped by your place, stole your medicine, and threatened to throw you in jail, would you be happy? Pleasant?
This war on medical marijuana is a war on our own people and on our democracy. Immoral, inhumane, unconstitutional and incredibly costly (10-12 billions a year). No one benefits, except a few industry giants and occasionally law enforcement – from "confiscating" medical marijuana $.
Worst of all, many ill-informed, misguided law enforcement do not realize they are working, in essence, for big industry, not for Justice (When most of a cop's job is to undermine and to subvert state medical marijuana laws, they are not being Protectors or Servers, but paid anti-medical marijuana lobbyists with guns and the perceived power to kick in you door.).
The attacks on the sick also shame and disgrace Oregon law enforcement. I wonder how many cops envisioned themselves stealing sick people's medicine, when they thought about answering the noble "calling" of a Protector.
Our democracy really is at stake, when the FEDS are blatantly kicking in doors, stealing medicine, and imprisoning patients.
Sue, Sue, Sue and Sue again. The FEDS have been playing as dirty as you can play since 1937; it is time for medical marijuana patients and their legal supporters to run a "full-court press" in the courtroom. Every lawyer in Oregon who claims to value Oregon's state law or civil rights should be helping cases like this one, to send a very clear message TO LEAVE SICK PEOPLE ALONE. Last Point: If law enforcement are being asked to undermine, subvert, and violate medical marijuana state law or The Golden Rule, for that matter, I strongly urge them to turn in their badges and refuse to be a part of this modern day witch-hunt. Sounds crazy, but people make moral, principled decisions like this everyday of their lives. There are many jobs where a person can help others, without also having to hurt sick people. And many police captains do understand that they would catch more real criminals, if they didn’t spend so much time targeting medical marijuana patients. Time to end the witch-hunts and time to embrace science, facts, logic and compassion

T. Jefferson October 31, 2007 10:57 am (Pacific time)

Why hasn't my post appeared?

Editor: This much has shown up under your name so far, if you believe your comments are not getting through, please write to us at newsroom@salem-news.com

Kappy October 31, 2007 9:37 am (Pacific time)

Ya know If you are looking to the news for your facts you are already lost... Do some research .. Even my 6yr old can tell fact from opinion.. To think that any news organization is not tainted by some personal bias is crazy.. Neal I love your story and am glad that someone in the media is actuality writing there opinion in something.. It makes me think you care about your work not just do your job.. Thanks Bro. When the people we pay to protect us start to turn on us then we should be outraged. We should use every nonviolent means we can to be a voice.. people may not like the MJ laws but we voted it in and it holds just as much value as any other law there is.. Even if you don't like it.... Would you be outraged if law enforcement did something illegal you you? would you want someone in the media to stand up for you... I think so...

Vic October 31, 2007 8:02 am (Pacific time)

You folks jumping on Neal should look under the title where it says COMMENTARY... He never claimed that this was a reporting piece. Commentary is, to my understanding, opinion...what is wrong with that ?

selm34 October 31, 2007 12:50 am (Pacific time)

I thought news reporters were suppose to be subjective, and not make a story their own personal vendetta. Apparently, Mr. Feldman does not think so. Just when I thought Salem-news.com was a worthy place to read current events, BUT Mr.Feldman has set the tone. Maybe he should get all the facts from BOTH sides before shooting off his mouth to compliment his EGO. BAD DAY for News Reporters, and Editors too since they approved it to be printed!!!!!!

Neal Feldman October 30, 2007 11:37 pm (Pacific time)

Yo... Festus... dude! Where is this 'real story' you were all on about, huh? Ah well...

Neal Feldman October 30, 2007 1:54 pm (Pacific time)

I like the comments even if they do not agree with me. I guess I'm funny that way. I am curious though as to this alleged 'story' Festus refers to... what is the 'real story' behind this? Anyone know or is he just blowing smoke? Ah well...

Festus October 30, 2007 12:17 pm (Pacific time)

this sounds like another blog section of a low budget media venue. Again, personal opinion in a story rahter than just reporting. Neal, you are a Tard! Go find something productive to report about instead of trying to get the sheep to follow you in this argument. Baaaaa! Thankfully there are people out there who know there is a real story behind this and not just willing to follow you to the barn!

Editor: We are very tolerant in the comments that we allow people to post, obviously, but please take these degrading statements with a grain of salt. This person named festus is a class A insult slinger, it appears to be his best talent, but that is fine, that is what the comment section is for. I do see the tone as purely counterproductive though, and sometimes I wonder if people like festus have the betterment of all in their list of considerations. Neal's article is commentary and it is clearly stated as just that. Festus can sling all the mud he wants, but Salem-News.com's viewership is growing steadily by the day, we have a huge local and national audience. Most people understand that in a democracy, we all have an opportunity to state our point of view and it doesn't sit well with everyone. It just so happens that Neal has fast growing popularity as a Salem-News.com writer, and we are very happy to have him aboard.

As for the blog comment, festus needs to go read the definition of blog before showing us how little he really knows. We are glad that our comment section serves as a blog, in essence, that is a good thing, not a bad thing.

Good Times October 30, 2007 9:30 am (Pacific time)

Those officials in question such as Jeff Kuhns had better wake up to the realization that their job security is in jeopordy!

James October 30, 2007 8:22 am (Pacific time)

I must have clicked on the wrong icon, I thought this was Salem NEWS.com not Salem RANT AND RAVE ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL OPINION.com. Such hostility

Oli October 30, 2007 8:20 am (Pacific time)

Outstanding story! Let's hope that some heads will roll on the side of those responsible for this travesty of justice.

[Return to Top]