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Medical Marijuana Dispensary (Chuck “Caveman” Coker via Flickr)
Oregon voters will decide in November if the state should have medical marijuana dispensaries in the spirit of California and Colorado. A ballot initiative, known as I-28, would legalize nonprofit medical marijuana dispensaries to sell marijuana to card-carrying patients. According to Oregon Business, the initiative barely qualified for November’s ballot.
The Secretary of State’s office has announced that I-28, the medical marijuana dispensary initiative, has qualified for the November 2 ballot.
Organizers of the I-28 campaign turned in 130,702 signatures, 85,848 of which turned out to be valid, narrowly exceeding the required number of 82,769 valid signatures. A separate campaign to legalize marijuana and sell it through state-run liquor stores went nowhere.
The idea behind I-28 is to allow people to set up nonprofit dispensaries for selling marijuana to people holding medical marijuana cards. The system would be overseen by the state health department.
Such a system would almost certainly result in a gold rush to tap into the growing market for legal weed, which has been lucratively exploited in California and Colorado. Marijuana is the nation’s largest cash crop, and any move to update regulations controlling how it is grown and sold will create opportunities within Oregon’s already sizable marijuana business. Just because an operation is a nonprofit doesn’t mean it can’t bring in big money. The dispensaries also would bring new revenue into state government from license fees.
As this article notes, an initiative to legalize marijuana failed quite miserably. The Oregon Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, sponsored by the Oregon chapter of NORML, gathered only 12,000 signatures of the 83,000 required. A similar initiative in Washington missed the ballot by a hair. Expect these two Western states, along with Colorado, to try again with full force to put legalization on the ballot in 2012.
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As an Oregonian I’m not opposed to this measure, and will more than likely vote to pass it. What annoys me thoroughly is the pointless charade we’re engaged in around this issue.
Rather than taking the issue head on, we’re instead relegated to the realm of “medical marijuana dispensaries” as some kind of backdoor initiative of better policy. It’s insulting.
Agreed. During alcohol prohibition, pharmacies would dispense alcohol as the cure for various ailments. This is right in line.
I am an Oregonian against this measure. I agree this is an insult to Oregonians and the medical marijuana community. This is an attempt to seize control over the OMMP program. I suggest everyone read the bill before we let this pass
http://www.sos.state.or.us/elections/irr/2010/028text.pdf
We need to decriminalize. This bill leaves less freedom than the current Oregon laws. More open doors to arrest innocent people.
While I understand that people feel insulted that cannabis, a nontoxic plant, isn’t legal for all adults when the evidence clearly demonstrates that it should be, it isn’t fair to blame Initiative 28 for the insult. Initiative 28 is an attempt by activists and patients to make the best of our situation and move the cannabis community forward while taking care of patients first.
Please read the proposal. It certainly isn’t “an attempt to seize control over the OMMP program.” And it certainly doesn’t leave “less freedom than the current Oregon laws” or “open doors to arrest innocent people.”
If any patient or provider likes the current Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, they are free to not change a thing. Dispensaries will provide additional choices for patients without taking away the right to grow their own. More freedom will be created, not less as cannabis commerce among producers and nonprofit dispensaries will be legalized.
More jobs and revenue will be created as a new industry is created. The revenue from the dispensaries will fund medical research and establish a program to assist low-income and homebound patients.
Initiative 28 doesn’t prevent legalization, it will help achieve legalization in 2012 and beyond by demonstrating that cannabis commerce should not be feared. And once voters and politicians realize the financial benefits to the state, they will be much more likely to legalize cannabis for all adults.
If Initiative 28 fails, then the prohibitionists will be emboldened and potential donors will be less likely to fund a legalization effort in 2012. If you truly support legalization, you should support Initiative 28.
If you support Oregon’s patients and a better economy for our state, you should support Initiative 28.
To read the text and learn more, please check out:
http://www.coalitionforpatientsrights2010.com