Pubdate: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 Source: Herald, The (Everett, WA) Copyright: 2013 Associated Press Contact: http://www.heraldnet.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/190 OREGON LEGISLATURE DIVES INTO MARIJUANA DEBATE SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Oregon lawmakers are beginning to debate whether they should ask voters to weigh in next year on legalizing marijuana for recreational use. State Sen. Floyd Prozanski, a Eugene Democrat who leads the Senate Judiciary Committee, unveiled a draft of a bill on Friday that would ask voters in the 2014 election whether marijuana should be legal. If it passes, the 2015 Legislature would be charged with writing laws to regulate the manufacture, sale and use of the drug. Democratic Sen. Floyd Prozanksi of Eugene says a legalization vote is inevitable, and the Legislature would write more well-rounded rules than activists drafting their own initiatives. Legalization advocates in Oregon have proposed several competing ballot measures of their own. "It is here, we need deal with it," Prozanski said. "Because if we don't deal with it, it's going to be given to us, and I think we'll have a lot of unintended consequences." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom