Oregon pot availability still many months away
Oregon voters approved the recreational use of marijuana Tuesday, but it may be wise for residents to wait before taking a celebratory toke.
Adults ages 21 and older will not be able to legally possess or grow marijuana until July 1, under the measure.
While the measure technically will take effect next month, the sections allowing legal pot possession do not take effect until next summer.
And residents won’t be able to buy marijuana from a state-licensed retailer until sometime in 2016 after the Oregon Liquor Control Commission has adopted rules to regulate the new marketplace and granted growers, wholesalers and retailers licenses.
After Tuesday’s vote, “the only thing that is going to change is that the OLCC is going to start the (rule-making) process,” said Dave Kopilak, a Portland attorney and primary drafter of Measure 91. “Outside of that agency, none of the laws for us normal citizens are going to change for the next seven months or so.”
There are more immediate ramifications after Oregon became the third state in the nation to legalize the recreational use of marijuana after Washington and Colorado. Alaska and Washington, D.C., also legalized recreational marijuana Tuesday.
Lane County-area police and court officials say they will discuss how to enforce and prosecute existing marijuana laws in the interim, between the measure’s approval and July 1.
And the chairman of the Oregon Senate Judiciary Committee said he expects lawmakers will tweak the measure when the legislative session starts in February.
Measure 91 lets adults possess up to eight ounces of marijuana and grow up to four marijuana plants at home, with additional allowances for pot in solid and liquid form. They can possess and give up to one ounce of marijuana away from home, but are barred from using the drug in public.
The measure also establishes a legal marketplace where license holders can grow, process and sell recreational marijuana.
Although the measure takes effect next month, it doesn’t amend the state’s criminal marijuana laws until July 1.
“We wanted everyone to maybe take a breather and see what had to be done,” Kopilak explained.
OLCC Chairman Rob Partridge said the agency’s first order of business will be to go before the Legislative Emergency Board in December to secure funding to ramp up the new regulatory program.
Then, he said, agency officials plan to hit to road to get input ahead of drafting the new rules, including from public safety and school officials and medical marijuana representatives.
“It’s critical that we get into the local communities and listen because that’s where the rubber meets the road,” said Partridge, Klamath County’s district attorney and a former state lawmaker.
The measure requires the OLCC to adopt these rules by Jan. 1, 2016. No later than Jan. 4, 2016, the agency must begin accepting license applications for growers, processors and retailers and, according to the measure, can’t “unreasonably delay” the processing and decision on an application.
Partridge said the agency would strive to meet those deadlines but “a lot of intervening factors,” including legislative changes and any court challenges, could alter the timeline.
State Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, said he expects state lawmakers will tweak the measure.
“We’ll probably be fine-tuning the measure to ensure that it provides what Oregonians expect in a regulated industry,” said Prozanski, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
He declined to provide many details, but he did say two areas that lawmakers would take a look at are edible marijana products and items that could be attractive to children, such as lollipops and gummy bears.
Prozanski characterized as a “non-starter” any thoughts of allowing a city or county to impose a local marijuana tax.
Measure 91 imposes a state tax on marijuana, and it bars local taxes. Numerous local governments, including Springfield and Lane County, already have adopted local taxes in the hope of getting in ahead of when the measure takes effect.
Prozanski said the measure specifically preempts local taxes. Allowing them, he said, raises the price of marijuana and defeats the measure’s purpose of getting customers to buy from a regulated marketplace rather than drug dealers.
Kopilak said he’s open to legislative changes “that are consistent with the themes of the (measure) and not, ‘We think it’s better this way.’”
Locally, courts and law enforcement are grappling with how to enforce existing marijuana laws with legalization on the horizon.
Oregon voters decriminalized possession of less than an ounce of marijuana more than four decades ago, making it an offense akin to speeding. Possession of between one and four ounces is a misdemeanor, while possession of more than four ounces is a felony.
Springfield Police Chief Tim Doney said he planned to meet with the officials from the municipal court and city prosecutor’s office in the next week or two to discuss the way forward.
Eugene city prosecutor Susan Triem said she’ll have the same conversation with her colleagues.
“We are still working on that,” she said.
Melinda McLaughlin, spokeswoman for the Eugene Police Department, said the agency’s stance would remain unchanged for the time being.
“The law is still on the books and, as usual, officers will be using their discretion,” she said. “We and other police agrencies in Oregon will be learning more about what the new law means.”
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Thank you Oregon!!!
I can't wait to visit my friends that live in Eugene...
