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AG'S CAMPAIGN WAS NEVER REALLY AT RISK

If Oregon's attorney general election was a referendum on marijuana, then pot supporters clearly won the day.  Ellen Rosenblum, who promised to support Oregon's medical marijuana law and ignore small-time users, grabbed an overwhelming 65 percent of the Democratic primary vote.

Rosenblum already is AG, appointed to complete John Kroger's term.  Her November election is guaranteed, with only token write-in competition.

The Oregonian said the following about Rosenblum's campaign:

"A pungent whiff of weed enveloped the Rosenblum campaign in the race's closing days.  Marijuana legalization advocates threw their support to Rosenblum, contributing nearly $200,000 - about a third of her total - to her campaign in May."

Oregonians didn't rise in outrage over their AG being soft on marijuana use.  After all, we are what CNBC this year called "the Shangri-La of the 'legalize marijuana' movement."

As reported by The Oregonian, our state has about 35,500 legal marijuana grow sites, including between 500 and 1,000 here in Yamhill County.  About 55,000 marijuana "patients" are registered, so a majority of grow sites are single-user operations.  There are 123 sites serving more than 10 patients, including one near Sheridan.

In 1973, Oregon became the first state to decriminalize small amounts of cannabis.  Oregon and Washington in 1998 became the first states after California ( 1996 ) to approve medical use marijuana - today, 17 states and the District of Columbia have similar laws.

Those laws spawn controversy in California and elsewhere, but almost none in the Northwest.

One reason is that Oregon set a high threshold for personal use, with patients allowed possession of 24 processed ounces and up to 24 marijuana plants, including 6 mature plants.  Since a plant can grow one to three pounds of pot, anyone familiar with the drug recognizes the more-than-ample supply.  Similarly, Washington allows 24 ounces and 15 plants.

That stipulation eliminates medical users from the black or gray markets, and leaves plenty of pot for those who legally contract with a provider instead of growing their own.  Only two other states allow as much as 8 ounces in possession, and most are 1 to 2 ounces.

Also, Oregon has no "dispensary" distribution.  That eliminates the drug raids that occur in some states, and avoids the controversy of marijuana storefronts in Oregon neighborhoods.

Recent growth of marijuana collectives has raised some eyebrows, with people bartering to avoid the prohibition on for-profit sales.  Even that phenomenon, however, generates little real passion from Oregon's outnumbered opponents of pot use.

Ellen Rosenblum's risky campaign, it seems, was never really at risk.