Deschutes DA presses state on medical pot grow list denial

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel is firing back at the state in a dispute over his request for the address of every licensed medical marijuana grow in the county.

Hummel sent a letter Thursday to the Oregon Health Authority, also signed by Sheriff Shane Nelson after the agency denied the county’s request for a list of all licensed medical marijuana grows in the county.

The letter stated that county officials disagree on how the agency interprets the state laws it cited for denying their request for the list.

Last month, Carole Yann, section manager for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, responded to the request in a letter that said the agency shares the same goals to ensure Deschutes County is safe and will assist in any way within the bounds of state law.

Yann said the OHA can verify whether a location is a registered medical marijuana grow site by an address.

“Unfortunately, Oregon law does not permit OHA to provide a list of medical marijuana grow sites to you,” Yann wrote. She cited several laws that she said supported the denial.

Hummel told NewsChannel 21 on Thursday he disagrees with how the state interprets the laws.

“They have the list of every licensed medical marijuana grow in Deschutes County, and so we provided every address in the county” on a thumb drive, he said. “They have a list of every licensed grow in the county. If they provide that list, that they complied with our request.”

There are nearly 1,000 medical marijuana grow operations in the county, and according to the district attorney’s office, none of them were inspected by the state last year.

This issue was sparked in February, when a La Pine man was accused of having an illegal medical marijuana grow on his property.

NewsChannel 21 reached out to OHA about this recent development.

Lead Communication Officer Jonathan Modie said the agency has received the county officials’ letter and is reviewing it, and plans to respond soon.