An Oregon man was arrested after he tried to purchase a used car with 5 pounds of marijuana on Nov. 9.
Matthew Theron Franks was charged with unlawful delivery of marijuana.
The Albany Police Department said that an auto dealer listed a car for sale online and that Franks, who lives about 20 miles away in Independence, responded to the listing by offering to trade weed for the vehicle, reported The Oregonian.
The auto dealer contacted the Linn Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Task Force. An investigator on the task force pretended to be the used car seller and agreed to make a trade.
Franks showed up to the meeting spot with 5.4 pounds of pot.
He was arrested and booked into the Linn County Jail.
Oversupply
Lt. Jerry Drum of the Albany Police Department and the Linn Interagency Narcotics Taskforce (LINE) said that there’s an oversupply of marijuana grown in the state.
“I think it’s a lot more common than we know of,” he told the Corvallis Gazette-Times. “This particular dealership just got another request today, of somebody wanting to trade.”
He said that officials aren’t going after residents who possess marijuana in line with state laws. Federal laws still outlaw the drug.
“We are targeting the illegal trade of substantial amounts of marijuana,” he added.
Anyone with narcotics trafficking information should contact LINE at 541-791-0102.
Laws in Oregon
Oregon law allows state residents to grow up to four plants on their property and possess up to 8 ounces of usable marijuana and up to 1 ounce on their person, according to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC).
Anyone at least 21 years of age can consume recreational marijuana under the law.
Recreational marijuana cannot be sold or smoked in public.
“Marijuana cannot be smoked or used in a public place. The OLCC considers any establishment with a state liquor license to be public, including patios or decks set aside for smokers. Allowing marijuana use may put an establishment’s liquor license in jeopardy. In addition, smoking and vaping in most businesses is limited by the Indoor Clean Air Act,” the agency stated.
A public place is defined as “a place to which the general public has access and includes, but is not limited to, hallways, lobbies, and other parts of apartment houses and hotels not constituting rooms or apartments designed for actual residence, and highways, streets, schools, places of amusement, parks, playgrounds, and premises used in connection with public passenger transportation.”
