Pubdate: Thu, 27 Feb 2014
Source: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Copyright: 2014 The Oregonian
Contact:  http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/324
Author: Noelle Crolmbie

Marijuana News

OREGON SEEN AS KEY STATE IN DEBATE OVER LEGALIZING POT

It's shaping up to be a pivotal year in marijuana policy with Oregon 
playing a key role in the debate over legalizing the drug, The New 
York Times reports.

More than half of the states are considering liberalizing their 
marijuana laws, reports New York Times writer Rick Lyman. Oregon and 
Alaska are two states seen as most likely to legalize this year, he reports.

And while it could be a historic year for advocates of cannabis, 
opponents too see it as a chance to disrupt the pro-pot momentum.

Kevin Sabet, a leading opponent of legalizing marijuana who recently 
visited Oregon to warn about the drug's dangers, told The Times: "We 
feel that if Oregon or Alaska could be stopped, it would disrupt the 
whole narrative these groups have that legalization is inevitable. We 
could stop that momentum."

On Wednesday, Sabet's group, Smart Approaches to Marijuana, announced 
it had snagged the endorsement of the Affilitated Tribes of Northwest Indians.

At least 14 states - including Florida, where an initiative has 
already qualified for the ballot - are considering new medical 
marijuana laws this year, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, 
which supports legalization, and 12 states and the District of 
Columbia are contemplating decriminalization, in which the drug 
remains illegal, but the penalties are softened or reduced to fines.

Medical marijuana use is already legal in 20 states and the District 
of Columbia. An even larger number of states, at least 17, have seen 
bills introduced or initiatives begun to legalize the drug for adult 
use along the lines of alcohol, the same approach used in Colorado 
and Washington, but most of those efforts are considered unlikely of 
success this year.

The allure of tax revenues is also becoming a powerful selling point 
in some states, particularly after Gov. John W. Hickenlooper of 
Colorado said last week that taxes from legal marijuana sales would 
be $134 million in the coming fiscal year, much higher than had been 
predicted when the measure was passed in 2012.

The influential Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-legalization group, 
announced this week that it's bought a building in Washington, D.C. 
- -- two miles from the White House, according to this report from 
McClatchy's Washington, D.C. bureau.

Rob Kampia, the group's executive director, said the group is 
soliciting donations to help pay its $664,000 mortgage. The office 
space is a 4,040-square-foot suite that takes up nearly the entire 
first floor of a residential building.

Kampia said there's a good reason to contribute: You'll be helping to 
end marijuana prohibition.

With its new property, the group can get down to the official 
business of Washington: wooing elected officials.

In Oregon, state officials are preparing to open the medical 
marijuana dispensary registry. The new state office begins accepting 
applications Monday. Here's a Q&A on the dispensary program. If 
you've got a question about the program, add it to the comments 
section below and I'll try to track down an answer.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom