WILLIAMS, Ore. -- Medical marijuana has taken root in this idyllic town like nowhere else in Oregon.
Nearly 20 percent of the population is registered to grow pot legally, and an untold number deals it illegally, creating stark contrasts in a bucolic burg where children still ring the bell to start the school day and pancake breakfasts draw a crowd at the local community center.
The Associated Press analyzed the locations of registered pot grower in Oregon based on their ZIP codes and found that Williams by far has the heaviest concentration. More than 400 of the town's 2000 residents are authorized by the state to grow up to six plants each.
The proliferation of pot became the talk of the town last summer when new Google Earth satellite images showed little green circles in neat rows all over the valley.
"My daughter showed me on her iPhone," said Neil Sinnott, owner of a local cafe. "She said, `Dad, look what your neighbors are doing.'"
Six-foot-tall fences that screen marijuana gardens from public view have become so common that a local pastor uses them as landmarks for giving directions. One resident is trying to capitalize on the growing popularity of medical marijuana by starting a testing lab. A variety of marijuana grown here, called Williams Wonder, is cherished among pot connoisseurs.
Though big-city Portland has cafes where medical marijuana users smoke pot while singing karaoke, it is the rural communities of southwestern Oregon like Williams that have the highest percentages of folks smoking it, growing it and caring for others who use the drug.
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