Pubdate: Sat, 14 Jul 2012
Source: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Copyright: 2012 The Oregonian
Contact:  http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/324
Author: Jeff Mapes

MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION MEASURE QUALIFIES FOR OREGON BALLOT

The secretary of state's office late Friday afternoon announced that 
the measure known as the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act  received 88,887 
valid signatures, just over the 87,213 needed to qualify for the 
general election ballot.

Oregon now becomes the third state, following Washington and 
Colorado, to place measures on the ballot this year to legalize 
marijuana. A separate initiative, to give adult Oregonians the 
constitutional right to possess marijuana, failed to gain enough 
valid signatures, according to election officials. But the chief 
petitioner this week filed a lawsuit demanding it be placed on the ballot.

Paul Stanford, who owns a chain of medical marijuana clinics and was 
the chief backer of the measure that qualified for the ballot, said 
he plans a well-funded campaign in the fall.

"I've been working on this for 24 years," he said, "so it's a happy 
day for me."

The measure is expected to face opposition from the law enforcement 
community, which successfully campaigned against a 2010 measure 
liberalizing the state's medical marijuana law.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom