Pubdate: Fri, 28 Sep 2012
Source: News Register (McMinnville, OR)
Copyright: 2012 News-Register Publishing Co.
Contact: http://www.newsregister.com/submit-letter
Website: http://www.newsregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2622

MARIJUANA MEASURE 80 SHOULD BE DOA AT POLLS

Marijuana aficionados have been trying to legalize pot through the
back door in Oregon for years

Marijuana aficionados have been trying to legalize pot through the
back door in Oregon for years.

With Measure 80, they're trying to do it as a Saturday Night Live
comedy sketch. Don't let them. The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act is wrong
for Oregon - and badly written to boot.

To be clear, there are strong arguments for the legalization of
marijuana as part of an overall national drug policy. Federal and
state governments spend billions every year trying to enforce
antiquated marijuana laws when that money should be spent capturing
and prosecuting drug cartels pushing cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine
and other destructive substances. But that's a topic for another day.

Measure 80 would allow adults in Oregon to grow and possess marijuana
without interference from the state. Under certain regulations and
taxing structures, individuals also could sell marijuana. So far, so
good.

Now the SNL script: On the first page of the Act, one learns that
Founding Fathers George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander
Hamilton practically romped through their own cannabis fields. History
indicates they did grow the hemp plant, but there is no evidence that
any actually smoked marijuana. Even if they had, it wasn't illegal in
those days.

A little further down Page 1, the bill cites one source claiming
marijuana has been used for more than 10,000 years without a single
overdose. How that possibly could be proven is certainly a mystery.

But here are the really funny parts:

Measure 80's chief sponsor is Paul Stanford, who owns a chain of
medical marijuana clinics around the country.

The law, if passed, would supersede all previous state laws and
ordinances regulating cannabis except driving while impaired, so
evidently the authors do agree there is some impairment of users.

Next, a seven-member Oregon Cannabis Commission would be created to
regulate the licensing, cultivation, sale and advertising of Oregon
cannabis products in national and international markets. Two of the
commissioners would be appointed by the governor, with the other five
elected by pot growers and processors.

We wonder if the tobacco industry knows it could be this easy to erase
previous tobacco laws, and elect a commission of tobacco growers and
processors to control that plant's cultivation, licensing and sale all
over the world. Who knew, really?

Under Measure 80, the OCC would issue licenses to growers, who would
sell their crops back to the commission. The commission would set the
price, sell marijuana in OCC stores and cover its costs with the
licensing fees. All sales revenue would go to the State Treasurer for
controlled disbursement, with 90 percent earmarked for the General
Fund. The remaining 10 percent would fund various drug education
programs and a new Oregon Hemp Fiber and Food Committee.

That much, at least, makes some sense. But overall, Measure 80 is an
unwarranted single-state experiment in a country that needs a more
realistic national policy on marijuana. An honest debate should focus
on many aspects of U.S. drug policy, but in Oregon, Measure 80 should
be dead on arrival.

Vote No.
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MAP posted-by: Matt