MEDICAL POT CHANGES AMONG NEW STATE LAWS

SALEM (AP) -- Holders of medical marijuana cards in Oregon now will
be allowed to have up to 1 1/2 pounds of dried marijuana and six
mature plants under a new state law that takes effect Jan. 1.

The increased possession limit, part of an effort to clear up
ambiguities in the state's 1998 medical marijuana program, was among
the hundreds of new laws approved by the 2005 Oregon Legislature.

Other new laws taking effect New Year's Day include ones to stiffen
high school graduation requirements, require seat belt use in taxis
and shuttle vans and require the Oregon State Police to create a Web
site with a list of high-risk sex offenders.

One of the co-sponsors of the new medical marijuana law, state Sen.
Bill Morrisette, said it's aimed at putting the program "on more
solid footing" by making it easier for police to interpret the law
and harder for criminals to exploit it.

"It protects these patients and plugs some of the loopholes law
enforcement people were worried about," the Springfield Democrat said.

The change also has been endorsed by Stormy Ray, a multiple sclerosis
patient who was a leading spokeswoman for the 1998 ballot measure
authorizing medical marijuana. She says the new law will ensure that
she can obtain enough marijuana, which she says helps ease her pain
and helps her sleep at night.

"It's a wonderful day for cardholders," said Ray, who is one of
12,000 Oregonians who hold state registration cards authorizing them
to use medical marijuana.

Current law permits cardholders and caregivers -- people who grow
marijuana for cardholders who can't or don't want to grow their own
- -- to grow three mature and four immature plants and to possess up to
three ounces of dried marijuana.

Under the law taking effect Jan. 1, cardholders will be allowed to
grow up to six mature plants and 18 seedlings and possess 24 ounces
of dried marijuana.

However, in exchange for the increased possession limits, the
Legislature approved a provision sought by police saying that
patients and caregivers can no longer argue in court that having more
than the specified amounts is a medical necessity and therefore permissible.

Also, caregivers will be limited to growing plants for no more than
four patients per year.

The law to toughen Oregon's high school graduation requirements was
put into effect on Jan. 1 because it will apply to students entering
high school in the fall of 2006.

Lawmakers approved the new law after hearing testimony from various
education officials who said the state's existing requirements were
some of the weakest in the nation.

Starting with the class of 2010, high school students will have to
complete four years of English to earn a diploma. The class of 2011
will have to contend with a third year of math. Backers of the change
say the extra math and English will help Oregon's students compete in
the global economy.

The death of a figure skater's mother prompted legislators to pass a
new state law requiring passengers in taxis, shuttle vans and rental
limousines to wear seat belts.

The measure was introduced after Dolores Nikodinov, 48, of San Pedro,
Calif., mother of skater Angela Nikodinov, was killed in Portland in
January when the airport shuttle van in which she was traveling
collided with a car, skidded and flipped on its side. Backers of the
bill said a seat belt requirement might have saved Dolores Nikodinov's life.

In another traffic law change taking effect Jan. 1, lawmakers tweaked
earlier crosswalk safety rules to come up with a new law that says
drivers going through an intersection with a stop sign or a light
must give pedestrians at least a six-foot buffer zone while they walk
across the road.

The new law requiring state police to establish a sex offender web
site was introduced in the Legislature after the mother of a college
student began pushing for a way to determine if any sexual predators
lived in the neighborhood near her daughter.

Oregon's site will not list all 11,000 sex offenders outside prison.
Instead, it will list an estimated 500 sex offenders classified by
the state Parole Board as high risk.

Before the bill passed, Oregon and South Dakota were the only states
without statewide Web sites.