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Oregon Says Maybe to Drugs
July 10, 2008 01:09 PM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
A proposed Oregon law would legalize the sale of marijuana in retail stores to adults over 21 in the state.
30-Second Summary
The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act of 2010 was launched Monday by marijuana legalization advocates, reported the Salem-News.
A signature campaign to support the initiative is being spearheaded by the Oregonians for Cannabis Reform 2010, who say that the proposed law would earn the state as much as $300 million a year and could help stabilize Oregon’s troubled economy.
Supporters say that part of marijuana sales proceeds would fund drug abuse education and treatment programs and would take marijuana off of the black market.
The act “would comprehensively reform marijuana laws by regulating and taxing adult sales; licensing the cultivation of the drug for sale in state-run package stores and adults-only businesses; allowing adults to grow their own and farmers to grow industrial hemp without license; and letting doctors prescribed untaxed cannabis to patients suffering from a variety of illnesses and injuries,” says the Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp.
But resident Shelby Ulrich told KPTV in Portland that the act could be harmful to society. “Society is already going away from, you know, doing what’s right and laws. Why make one more thing OK when it’s hurting others?”
But Kevin Mannix, a local politician who abandoned an effort against medical marijuana in the state earlier in the year, predicts that the proposed law will not be implemented. “There is a slim-to-none chance this [proposal] would be upheld in federal court,” Mannix says.
Oregon is one of 11 states that allow medical use of marijuana.
A signature campaign to support the initiative is being spearheaded by the Oregonians for Cannabis Reform 2010, who say that the proposed law would earn the state as much as $300 million a year and could help stabilize Oregon’s troubled economy.
Supporters say that part of marijuana sales proceeds would fund drug abuse education and treatment programs and would take marijuana off of the black market.
The act “would comprehensively reform marijuana laws by regulating and taxing adult sales; licensing the cultivation of the drug for sale in state-run package stores and adults-only businesses; allowing adults to grow their own and farmers to grow industrial hemp without license; and letting doctors prescribed untaxed cannabis to patients suffering from a variety of illnesses and injuries,” says the Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp.
But resident Shelby Ulrich told KPTV in Portland that the act could be harmful to society. “Society is already going away from, you know, doing what’s right and laws. Why make one more thing OK when it’s hurting others?”
But Kevin Mannix, a local politician who abandoned an effort against medical marijuana in the state earlier in the year, predicts that the proposed law will not be implemented. “There is a slim-to-none chance this [proposal] would be upheld in federal court,” Mannix says.
Oregon is one of 11 states that allow medical use of marijuana.
Headline Links: ‘New Law Would Legalize Marijuana in Oregon’
Advocates of the proposed law say that it would be beneficial to the state’s farming industry, as farmers could be licensed to grow cannabis for both medicinal and recreational use. Under the proposed law, farmers would be able to grow industrial hemp without a license, for paper, fabric, protein and oil.
Source: Salem-News
The campaign’s organizers need to gather at least 82,769 valid signatures by July 2, 2010, for the proposal to be presented to Oregon’s voters that November.
Source: KGW (Oregon)
Alan Tinsley, who supports the proposal, said that the act would allow the state to stop spending money on prosecuting drug users. “I think it’s a bit of a waste of time spending that much money on prosecuting people that are basically not hurting anybody else besides themselves,” Tinsley said.
Source: KPTV (Oregon)
The petition’s co-organizers, Madeline Martinez and Paul Stanford, announced the proposal on Monday.
Source: Willamette Week
Related Topics: Recent marijuana legislation
In June, the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld a ruling by the state Bureau of Labor and Industries that employers have to make reasonable accommodations for medical marijuana use for a disability.
Source: KGW
The Netherlands’ iconic coffee shops, where millions go to legally buy and smoke cannabis and hashish, were recently forced to reinvent the wheel after a ban on smoking tobacco in restaurants and cafes went into effect on July 1. Critics pointed out that the law was having the unintended effect of forcing more customers to smoke pure cannabis.
Source: findingDulcinea
Reference: Cannabis Tax Act, Oregon Medical Marijuana Act
The group “Oregonians for Cannabis Reform,” which is collecting signatures for the 2010 initiative, says that it aims to legalize cannabis and hemp in the state in order to improve the global energy, food and fiber industries.
Source: Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp
The Oregon Medical Marijuana Program administers the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, which was approved in 1998.
Source: Oregon.gov
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