Pubdate: Sun, 09 Mar 2014
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2014 The Washington Times, LLC.
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492

SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Now that key liquor and pot bills failed to gain
traction in the Oregon Legislature, the venue shifts to the ballot
box.

Groups are proceeding with initiatives that would put questions on the
November ballot about ending the state's control over the liquor
business and legalizing recreational use of marijuana.

Since the end of Prohibition, just 18 states, mostly in the Northwest
and mid-Atlantic, chose to control liquor sales within their borders.
In 2011, Washington became the first of those states to privatize its
liquor sales after voters there approved an initiative backed by
grocers and Costco Wholesale Corp.

Grocery chains such as Fred Meyer and Safeway have now set their
sights on privatizing liquor sales in Oregon, where only
state-regulated liquor stores are currently permitted to sell
distilled spirits.

Those stores - there are about 250 - are privately owned, but the
state owns the alcohol on their shelves and pays a percentage of each
sale to the owner. Liquor sales are the state's third-biggest revenue
generator after income taxes and the lottery. Officials project sales
during the current two-year budget cycle will reach more than $1
billion, generating $252 million for the state general fund and $172
million for cities and counties.

Instead, the coalition of grocers wants the state to allow stores that
already sell beer and wine and are at least 10,000 square feet to be
allowed to sell liquor, too. Existing liquor stores would be allowed
to stay open, and some smaller shops like wine specialty stores would
be able to sell liquor.

Opponents of privatization say it could hurt the state's revenue, but
the grocers say their measure would contain a "circuit-breaker" to
ensure the state meets its projections.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which runs the state's alcohol
sales system, opposes privatization, but the Legislature declined to
take action on a "hybrid" bill designed by the commission. That bill
would have let grocery stores stock liquor while keeping the state in
control of the sales and distribution.

The bill's "absence from the discussion simplifies the debate about
what will be proposed in our ballot measure," said Pat McCormick, a
spokesman for Oregonians for Competition, a political group backed by
the Northwest Grocery Association, which is pushing for
privatization.

Three of the group's original eight privatization initiatives filed
with the Secretary of State's Office remain active at various stages
in the process, though the field will eventually narrow to just one,
McCormick said. He said efforts to circulate petitions could begin in
a few months. They will need to collect 87,213 valid signatures by
early July.

Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, proposed a ballot measure that would
have asked voters whether to legalize marijuana but left it to the
2015 Legislature to write the regulations. The bill went nowhere,
however, so he says Oregon voters will only be able to decide on
marijuana regulations that were written by advocates before anyone had
an opportunity to learn from the legalization experiences in
Washington and Colorado.

Some marijuana-legalization advocates had supported Prozanski's
efforts, but say now they are preparing to put the question to the
voters. Their two initiatives have turned in less than a quarter of
the signatures needed by July 3, 2014, to qualify for the November
ballot.

At least two more pot-legalization ballot measures have also been
filed with the Secretary of State's Office.
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MAP posted-by: Matt