Pubdate: Sat, 22 Sep 2012
Source: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Copyright: 2012 The Oregonian
Contact:  http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/324

VOTE NO ON MEASURE 80, OREGON'S MARIJUANA MANIFESTO

Oregon, Washington and Colorado all have marijuana legalization 
measures on their November ballots, but Oregon's effort stands in a 
class by itself. The initiative is a comically bald attempt to turn 
marijuana in Oregon from a tolerated drug into a celebrated cash crop 
with the full-throated backing of state government.

Measure 80 goes too far. Voters should reject this initiative and ask 
state and federal leaders for more coherent drug policies.

If Measure 80 passed, adults in Oregon could grow and possess 
marijuana without interference from the state. They also could sell 
marijuana under provisions that would allow the drug to be regulated 
and taxed. From a distance, the Oregon measure resembles the 
legalization efforts in Washington and Colorado. Up close, it's more 
sweeping and a bit surreal, like Willie Nelson meeting Willie Wonka.

For example, the Colorado and Washington initiatives would entrust 
the job of regulating marijuana to an established state body: the 
revenue department or the state liquor board, respectively. Oregon's, 
by contrast, would create a new seven-member commission dominated by 
five players in the marijuana community. These members, "elected at 
large by growers and processors," would have the majority vote in 
overseeing marijuana cultivation, sales, licensing and promotion.

This is the equivalent of putting Philip Morris in charge of state 
tobacco policy. What could possibly go wrong?

Another example: Washington's and Colorado's initiatives place limits 
on personal possession and cultivation, and both include provisions 
intended to control the number and location of pot shops. Oregon's 
includes no limits on personal possession and cultivation, and it 
leaves zoning and licensing up to the grower-dominated Oregon 
Cannabis Commission. Furthermore, Oregon's initiative defines hemp as 
exempt from all regulation -- and it takes pains to define all 
marijuana seeds and starter plants as ... hemp.

Meanwhile, Measure 80 would compel the Oregon attorney general to 
serve as a drug ambassador. The attorney general would be required to 
defend -- at state expense -- the act and anyone prosecuted under it, 
including people found in violation of federal drug laws. The AG 
would also be required to propose pot-friendly legislation to 
international organizations or "each member of Congress."

Voters should read the full text to see its scope. It's hard to do 
justice to an initiative that uses the Founding Fathers and the Book 
of Genesis to justify the moral righteousness of the Oregon Cannabis 
Commission and its statewide network of marijuana stores. It's hard 
to explain what seems fishy about Measure 80's provision to fund 
"accurate" drug education in schools without first reading its long 
descriptions of marijuana as a marvelous, misunderstood cure-all.

Oregon's current drug laws are far from perfect. The state's medical 
marijuana laws are among the nation's most permissive, allowing tens 
of thousands of recreational users to piggyback on a program intended 
for seriously ill people. Federal law continues to overreach, 
treating marijuana like a dangerous street drug with no medical 
value. Laws cease to be credible when they're contradictory or 
impossible to follow -- which is why the status quo can't last forever.

So Oregon voters should remain receptive to major changes in drug 
policy, especially federal changes that would minimize penalties for 
possession and allow marijuana to be studied and prescribed like 
legal drugs. They also should be prepared to re-evaluate the state's 
medical marijuana program, which seems better tailored for 
recreational users and big-time growers than for sick people.

But Measure 80 isn't a solution to these policy challenges. It's 
written by marijuana growers, for marijuana growers, with the intent 
of getting the state deeply enmeshed in the drug business. The 
proponents' best hope for passage is in trying to sell their 
initiative as a simple legalization effort. Clearly, Measure 80 is 
much more than that.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom