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."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom