Everything You Need to Know About Recreational Cannabis Policies in Oregon

annabis policy will dominate the 2015 “Joint
Committee” Oregon legislative session like no other issue. Oregon recently
passed Measure 91, legalizing recreational cannabis, and thirteen cannabis
bills have already been proposed in the 2015 Legislature, with more on their
way. 

In meetings with the Statesman Journal Editorial Board last week, Oregon House
Speaker, Tina Kotek, called the issue “super-complicated.” Senate President,
Peter Courtney, said he expects the Legislature to be dealing with it for the
next 10 years.

“We all will be voting on
marijuana,” Senate President Courtney stated, “not only in 2015,
probably 2016 and probably at least two or three more sessions afterwards to
implement this measure. It is a voluminous measure that was placed on the
ballot. Voluminous.”

The main issues include safety,
taxation and regulations.

How will medical cannabis be affected?

Under the new ballot measure, recreational cannabis will be taxed, while
medicinal cannabiswill not be; making recreational cannabis more costly.

Black-market cannabis will still
be cheaper, so illegal cannabis farms— often on federal forestland in Southern
Oregon and Northern California— will most likely, still thrive.

What are the regulations?

The Oregon Liquor Control
Commission will be establishing rules and holding listening sessions throughout
the state.

Growers and suppliers must be
regulated in certified testing centers, due to the wide array of cannabis
strains with various potencies.

How much taxation?

Oregon will have lower taxes than
Washington, which will draw in out-of-state buyers.

Though, some Oregon cities want
to add local cannabis taxes— exacerbating the price difference between legal
and black-market cannabis. The Legislature will decide whether to allow
municipal taxes.

What about the children?

Oregon policymakers want to suspend
the approval of edibles, which might attract minors.

Driving while “stoned?”

Since there are no consistent
tests which readily indicate whether a driver is under the influence of THC,
law enforcement will need widespread training in making such judgments.

Suitable police processes must be
established and introduced.

Cannabis marketplace?

Legal cannabis has not been as
successful in Washington compared to Colorado. At first, Washington did not
have enough distributors. Then it had too many, triggering many distributors to
go out of business. To what degree should Oregon leave commercial approval,
location and sustainability to the market and cities to determine?

“There are a tremendous
amount of details to be worked out,” Kotek said.

The economic impact of Measure 91 seems to be the most difficult aspect for
lawmakers. Let’s hope they make the right choices.

Learn more

For government information about
Oregon’s marijuana plans, go to marijuana.oregon.gov.