NORML official says legalizing pot for medication could ease load

By Randall Turk

Transcript Staff

County jail crowding, a situation being monitored by the state health department, has persisted over the past month, Cleveland County commissioners were told Monday.

A jail report indicates an average population of 167 in the County Detention Center last week is dangerously near the maximum 177 the state says the jail can safely hold. Exceeding the jail limit could result in hefty fines levied against the county, commissioners were recently warned.

Former Norman Assistant Police Chief Neil Vickers, hired as a temporary consultant to expedite turnover in the jail, said he is working with county judges and the district attorney to speed court appearances, release low risk inmates without bonds and obtain electronic monitoring for others, pending court dates.

In April, three inmates jailed in lieu of fines and restitution were released on their own recognizance and another two were turned out to be monitored by electronic devices until their court appearances, Vickers said.

The jail burden could be lessened further if other states' medical marijuana laws were honored here, a woman said Monday. Norma Sapp, state director of the National Organizatin for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) said 11 other states now have laws permitting the documented use of marijuana for medical purposes. She said she is seeking support from county commissioners throughout the state for revising Oklahoma's marijuana laws.

Sapp said NORML seeks to prevent the arrest of state visitors who carry medical cards certifying them to use marijuana as medication for health problems. Oklahoma needs to consider honoring other states' medical marijuana laws and avoid jailing those who legitimately use the drug, she said. "It costs the county money to jail these people."

In his weekly report to the commissioners Monday, Vickers said 189 prisoners were in county custody during the week of April 27-May 3, including 20 prisoners a day kept in the Pottawatomie County Jail. Cleveland County's jail headcount averaged a high of 171 on April 30 and 173 on May 2, Vickers' report indicates. The jail had a low of 158 inmates on April 27. The jail tally throughout April averaged 159, in addition to the 20 in the Pottawatomie County Jail in Ada.

Sapp said her campaign to gain state acceptance of the use of marijuana for medical treatment began last week when she learned a mother and daughter passing through Oklahoma had been jailed in Beckham County for possessing a quantity of cannabis leaves.

Sapp said the older woman, like many others using marijuana as medication, could not tolerate the effects of the drug in its capsule form. "She had a California medical card authorizing her to use marijuana for a back condition," Sapp said. The woman and her daughter, "who didn't even smoke marijuana," made a plea agreement on a charge of intent to distribute marijuana and are now serving a 90-day jail term, Sapp said.

Cleveland County Attorney Tim Kuykendall, present at the commissioners' meeting, said the NORML request to commissioners is misdirected. "Your comments would be better addressed to the Legislature," Kuykendall advised Sapp. "County commissioners are not in the position to change state laws."

In other matters Monday, the commissioners:

Awarded a bid for $21,690 to Horton Transfer -- Storage of Oklahoma City to move the county administrative departments back to the County Office Building once its renovation is completed. No precise date has been scheduled for the move.