Posted on 08/28/2014 11:26:39 AM PDT by ConservingFreedom
Oregon has had a wink-wink, nudge-nudge relationship with recreational marijuana use since 1998, when legalization for medical purposes created a wide, open system that distributes pot cards to just about anyone with a vague medical claim and the signature of a compliant physician. We're not suggesting that marijuana has no palliative value to those with genuine medical problems. But let's be honest: Recreational marijuana is all but legal in Oregon now and has been for years. Measure 91, which deserves Oregonians' support, would eliminate the charade and give adults freer access to an intoxicant that should not have been prohibited in the first place.
Opponents of the measure are right about a couple of things. Allowing retail sales of recreational marijuana inevitably will make it easier for kids to get their hands on the stuff, as will Measure 91's provision allowing Oregonians to grow their own. It's also true that outright legalization will increase the number of people driving under the influence, which is particularly problematic given the absence of a simple and reliable test for intoxication. There is no bong Breathalyzer.
As real as these consequences are, Oregonians should support outright legalization. No responsible adult wants kids using pot, but legalization would simply add another product to an "adults-only" category that includes tobacco and alcohol. There is no movement to ban alcohol in order to keep it away from kids, so why use that justification to prevent the legalization of marijuana, which in many ways is no worse? The potential increase in intoxicated driving is, again, a reason for concern, and the measure directs the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to recommend appropriate changes to the vehicle code by 2017.
Let's not pretend, however, that Oregon isn't dealing with both of these problems already thanks to the state's (wink, wink) medical marijuana program, which the Legislature itself has made more user-friendly by legalizing dispensaries. And let's not forget what's happening right now in Washington, where adults – including Oregonians – may buy pot at retail outlets. A completely legal high is only a short drive away for anyone in the Portland metro area.
Measure 91 would move Oregon from a hazy condition of almost-legalization to one of rational access guided by straightforward regulations and subject to sensible taxation. In other words, it would force Oregon's 16-year-old marijuana experiment out of adolescence and into legal adulthood. The measure appropriately leaves the task of regulating the new industry to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which knows a thing or two about the distribution and sale of intoxicants. The OLCC would adopt the necessary rules by 2016.
The tax burden imposed by Measure 91 would be more modest than that adopted in Washington. Taxes would be levied at the point of sale by producers and would range from $5 per immature plant to $35 per ounce for flowers. These rates might strike some as too low, but taxing legal pot too heavily would merely give people an incentive to keep buying on the black market. In any case, the measure directs the OLCC to review tax rates regularly and recommend appropriate changes to the Legislature.
Legalizing recreational marijuana probably sounds like a revolutionary concept to a lot of Oregonians, including many of those who can't wait to fill in the "yes" bubble on their ballots in a couple of months. Given everything that's happened on the ganja front since 1998, though, it's really not as big a step as it might seem. As of July 1, almost 65,000 Oregonians had medical marijuana cards, and many of those 65,000 have friends with whom – just a guess! – they share the fruits of the system. So widely accepted has this form of shadow legalization become that the Legislature OK'd dispensaries in 2013 even though voters defeated related ballot measures in 2002 and 2010. And then, there's the big pot shop across the river, aka Washington.
Measure 91, far from revolutionary, would simply allow Oregon adults to obtain something they may obtain now, but without having to stroll through a "medical" loophole or drive over a bridge to a neighboring state. The measure would be worth supporting for reasons of honesty and convenience alone, but it also would raise millions of dollars per year for schools and other purposes. For that reason, it deserves support even from those who aren't normally high on taxes.
Still cracks me up that Oregonians still can’t be trusted to pump their own gas.
yea! people aren’t stupid enough!
/s
welcome to bread & circuses redux... renamed to pot & pizza
Just legalize it nationally and be done with it. Government will get their taxes, idiots will stay out of jail, cops will have time to focus on other stuff, and narcotics anonymous will get a huge new influx of attendees.
neither can the folks in new jersey
Absolutely!
The more drug addled people out there — the easier it will be for the nanny state to control things.
If it's a War On Stupidity we're waging, we need to ban alcohol, 'professional' wrestling, and 'reality' TV too.
Who, how and what will determine the “acceptable” level of THC in the blood to constitute DUI?
The nanny state sure has done a good job of controlling drugs up to this point, haven’t they?
Pretty much what it's come down too. And don't forget football. Pot, Pizza, & Football.
Here's your toys, let the grownups get back to running the country.
liberatarians
Making Libertarian Socialism a reality!
You can wiki “Libertarian Socialism”
Massive inhale... write an article... massive exhale.
“Like wow man. Did you see that? I wrote an article on one breath!”
Oui...
Brave New World becoming a reality
Either way, it certainly is not within the Constitutional boundaries of the overreaching federal government.
Drug use as well as marriage, the gay thing, and a million other issues are STATES issues, not federal government issues.
Drug use and drug laws are up to the people of each state to decide what they in their locality want to do. That is what we (used) to call “federalism” - decentralized government as defined by the 9th and 10th Amendments - our blessed and free Constitutional Republic that we are letting Satan and his minions snatch away from us.
Catch-22 ... our largely futile attempt to prevent drug addled people IS nanny statism.
pot and pizza……………
in the correct order
As if the American populace already hasn’t become a nation of worthless dopehead dregs.
Sadly, some self-proclaimed "conservatives" are ready to surrender the 9th and 10th Amendments.
George Soros is behind this. Stoned people are easily manipulated.
and we are totally going the wrong way. Feds holding big $$$ hostage until the states comply. Or they just plain ignore these by fiat with EPA / DHS / etc, etc, etc.
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