[420 Girl]

A confrontation with medical marijuana advocates briefly disrupted the start of a Chamber of Commerce-sponsored forum on workplace substance abuse this morning.

Half a dozen activists were turned away by chamber officials as they tried to enter the forum at the Central Willamette Community Credit Union headquarters on Supra Drive Southwest.

Inside, Portland construction company executive Dan Harmon gave local business people an hourlong presentation titled "The Economic Impact of Substance Abuse and the Need for a Legislative Solution." A large part of his presentation was given over to a critique of Oregon's Medical Marijuana Act, which he described as "a Trojan horse for those who want to legalize marijuana."

Outside in the parking lot, frustrated activists said they only wanted to voice a dissenting view on the issue.

"What are they so afraid of? I'm not disruptive," said Sandee Burbank, who drove to Albany from her home in Mosier to attend the event. She and other members of her organization have attended similar forums in the past.

Burbank chairs the Advisory Committee on Medical Marijuana in the Oregon Department of Human Services. She's also the executive director of Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse, a Portland organization that lobbies for more liberalized drug policy.

But Janet Steele, president of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce, said Burbank and the others were trying to interfere with the goal of the forum, which was to help employers deal with difficult issues of impairment and drug testing on the job.

"They registered as chamber members, and they're not," Steele said. "They were here to disrupt our meeting."

Someone called the police, and two officers arrived after all but one of the pot advocates had left.

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