Lori Duckworth wasn't one to hide her marijuana activism. She was a regular at legislative hearings on medical marijuana bills. She operated a downtown storefront where thousands of dues-paying southern Oregon patients got cannabis.
O...
Lori Duckworth wasn't one to hide her marijuana activism. She was a regular at legislative hearings on medical marijuana bills. She operated a downtown storefront where thousands of dues-paying southern Oregon patients got cannabis.
On Thursday, the 48-year-old married mother and grandmother became the latest high-profile figure in the state's robust cannabis community to be swept up in a drug investigation.
Duckworth and her husband, Leland Duckworth, 49, are accused of selling marijuana. State and federal laws ban the sale of the drug. Oregon allows medical marijuana growers to recoup the costs of supplies and utilities when providing the drug to state-registered patients.
The raids this week on the Duckworths' operation and others in southern Oregon come as Oregon lawmakers consider a bill that would legalize medical marijuana outlets like the Duckworths'. Lawmakers also are considering a bill that would add post-traumatic stress disorder to the conditions that can qualify patients to obtain medical marijuana.
Last year, federal agents raided sites associated with one of the state's largest medical marijuana producers, James Bowman, who operated a farm in Jackson County. Washington County authorities last year also shut down the Human Collective, a medical marijuana establishment that served as one of Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum's campaign stops.
The Southern Oregon Cannabis Community Center, the outlet Duckworth operated, and three other medical marijuana establishments in the Medford area were raided Thursday by a drug task force made up of local, state and federal law enforcement. Police also searched four properties, including Duckworth's home, seizing marijuana, marijuana plants and weapons.
The Duckworths were taken into custody at her cannabis outlet in downtown Medford. Two other Medford men also were arrested as part of the investigation. All are being held at the Jackson County Jail on marijuana-related charges.
Leland Berger, a longtime marijuana advocate and Portland lawyer, wondered whether police targeted Duckworth because of her activism.
He also questioned the timing of the raids. Friday's furlough day for state employees and the Memorial Day weekend likely mean Duckworth and the other defendants will remain in jail until Tuesday.
"The only real effect of the police raiding safe access points is that patients are denied access to medicine, and in my view that is a form of domestic terrorism," Berger said.
Tim George, Medford's police chief, strongly denied any political agenda to the arrests.
"These are state cases on the sale of marijuana, period," George said. "It doesn't matter who you are. If you do that, you run the risk of getting arrested."
Duckworth, already known to Medford-area cops by name, told The Oregonian last year she suspected her arrest was always a possibility. She and her husband said they kept a lawyer on retainer and had an emergency plan for their teenage son in case they were taken into police custody.
She also spoke out against out-of-state trafficking of medical marijuana, saying it reflected poorly on the state program.
"We're normal people," she said. "We want safe communities. Our children and our grandchildren live here too."
Last year, the couple said they grew far fewer plants than the state law allows, hoping to stay out of federal law enforcement's cross hairs. Duckworth had a saying to explain her self-imposed limits: "Don't poke the bear."
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Source: oregonlive.com
Author: Noelle Crombie
Contact: Contact OregonLive.com or The Oregonian
Website: Another Oregon medical marijuana advocate faces drug case | OregonLive.com
