Pubdate: Sat, 17 Jul 2010 Source: Statesman Journal (Salem, OR) Copyright: 2010 Statesman Journal Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/QEzJupzz Website: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/427 Author: Peter Wong, Statesman Journal Cited: http://www.coalitionforpatientsrights2010.com/ Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - U.S.) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries CRIME, MEDICAL MARIJUANA INITIATIVES QUALIFY FOR BALLOT Both Receive Enough Signatures for Voters'consideration Nov. 2 Oregonians will vote Nov. 2 on mandatory prison time for repeat felony sex offenders and drunken drivers, and state licensing of dispensaries for purchases of medical marijuana. Secretary of State Kate Brown announced Friday that both had obtained more than the 82,769 signatures required to qualify them for the ballot. They will be assigned measure numbers after the Aug. 1 deadline for verification of ballot initiatives. Initiatives will start with number 73; there are three legislative referrals already on the ballot. The crime initiative would set a 25-year mandatory minimum prison sentence for repeat offenders in any of four felony sex crimes. It also would require a 90-day jail term for a third drunken-driving conviction, which would be considered a Class C felony, if two previous convictions were within the past 10 years. Officials determined by sampling that 68.21 percent of the 136,674 signatures submitted were valid. Sponsors are former Rep. Kevin Mannix of Salem - author of previous initiatives, including mandatory sentences for violent crimes that voters approved as Measure 11 in 1994 - and Rep. Jim Thompson of Dallas and Glenn Pelikan of Portland. The medical marijuana initiative would amend the law that voters passed in 1998. The law allows patients with specified medical conditions, or their designated caregivers, to grow marijuana - but it does not allow its sale. The initiative would enable the state Department of Human Services, which administers the current program, to license dispensaries where medical marijuana can be obtained. Officials determined by sampling that 65.68 percent of the 130,702 signatures submitted were valid. Sponsors are Anthony Johnson of Portland, Alice Ivany and Jim Klahr, both of Milwaukie. Signatures for four other ballot initiatives are undergoing review. One would renew the current diversion of 15 percent of lottery proceeds for parks, watersheds and salmon habitat. Voters approved the original plan in 1998; it expires in 2014. One would create a panel of retired judges to oversee redrawing of state legislative district lines after each 10-year census. Under the current system, lawmakers have until June 30 of the year after a federal census to redraw lines; if they miss the deadline, the task falls to the secretary of state. Two would authorize a casino that would be the only one not affiliated with the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon. Two measures are required because there is a constitutional ban on casinos; the tribal casinos are governed under federal law. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake