Paul Stanford, organizer of the Hempstalk festival, has one message for the Portland City Council: "We will never surrender." Portland parks officials denied Hempstalk, the free marijuana and hemp festival that celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, a permit for its 2015 waterfront event last November. In three weeks, Stanford and his supporters will once again be back for another appeal hearing before the City Council. It's the latest development in a strange saga that dates back to the fall of 2013 when parks and police officials documented "demonstrated inability" to control drug use and behavior at prior festivals. [continues 424 words]
Hours before marijuana becomes legal in Oregon, U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer said the state's rollout will "loom large" as other states and the federal government consider marijuana-related legislation. "Oregon can be a textbook example of how to do it right," Blumenauer said Tuesday afternoon at a press conference at the American Civil Liberties Union's Portland headquarters. The congressman, a longtime proponent of legal marijuana, called Oregon's law the best in the nation. Oregon's law takes effect at midnight. State legislators Tuesday advanced three bills to shape the law, including setting a sales tax and allowing medical marijuana dispensaries to sell to recreational customers starting in October, before a state retail system is in place. [continues 184 words]
Portland Mayor Charlie Hales requested $440,000 for a marijuana permitting program, according to budget documents. Hales, who oversees the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, authored a memo outlining the funding request in the upcoming 2015-16 fiscal year. The mayor's marijuana program represents a small slice of some $58 million in proposals submitted by city bureaus as they compete for roughly $14 million in one-time general fund dollars expected to be available come July. More than half of the $58 million in one-time requests are from the Bureau of Transportation, The Oregonian/OregonLive previously reported. [continues 308 words]
