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. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom