BY RACHEL CHEESEMAN

BEND- Jim Klahr made his way to Bend, Oregon on Friday to happily announce that Initiative 28, which would establish medical marijuana dispensaries in the state, would be on the 2010 ballot.

Klahr, the co-chief petitioner of Initiative 28, said the regulated medical marijuana supply system would allow patients instant access to their medicine from a qualified and reliable source.

The Coalition for Patients’ Rights 2010 collected 130,000 signatures to ensure that the requirement of 82,769 valid signatures would be met to put the initiative on the ballot.

Dispensaries would be able to grow marijuana or purchase it from licensed producers and other dispensaries as long as they fell within Oregon’s state lines.

Klahr said that the permit process would allow tighter regulations and better monitoring of the quality of the product.

“Currently people had to be their own grower or find someone to grow for them,” Klahr said.

Klahr said this was an obstacle for many patients because they might not be able to grow themselves, and finding a grower for many patients was both difficult and time-intensive.

“It’s very hard sometimes to find someone who’s ready and willing to take you on,” Klahr said. “Some people were waiting 17 months.”

The regulations that would apply to the dispensaries would be drafted by the Department of Human Services after the proposal’s passage.

James Hickam, director of Salem’s sub-chapter of NORML, said he is concerned that access to medicine might continue to be a problem if regulations don’t prevent overpricing.

Dispensaries in California, he said, charge up to $400 an ounce.

“That’s way out of line for patients,” Hickam said.

The initiative is predicted to generate large amounts of revenue for the state through annual licensing fees for both dispensaries and producers. Dispensaries also would pay quarterly fees to be determined by their gross revenue.

With the initiative on the ballot, Klahr’s attention has switched from signature gathering to fundraising in order to mobilize voters and to draw attention to the cause.

“We have a plan,” he said. “We’ll be doing fundraisers all over the state.”