Pubdate: Mon, 10 Mar 2014
Source: Register-Guard, The (OR)
Copyright: 2014 The Register-Guard
Contact: http://www.registerguard.com/web/opinion/#contribute-a-letter
Website: http://www.registerguard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/362

A MISSED OPPORTUNITY

Lawmakers Let Pot Legalization Bill Die In Committee

Sooner or later, Oregon voters once again will decide whether to 
legalize marijuana for recreational purposes. If that time comes this 
fall, as is likely, state lawmakers will regret their decision to let 
die in committee a bill that would have asked voters if they want to 
legalize pot and leave the regulatory details to lawmakers in the 2015 session.

It's long been evident that several legalization measures could be on 
the November ballot. Paul Stanford, head of the Oregon branch of the 
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, is collecting 
signatures for two initiatives - one making possession of pot a 
constitutional right for adults, and the other laying out a program 
for producing, selling and possessing marijuana. Another 
organization, New Approach Oregon, which has national financial 
backing, also is gathering signatures to qualify legalization 
initiatives for the ballot.

Legalization advocates already have shown they have the energy and 
resources to place initiatives on the ballot. Stanford's group put 
Measure 80 on the ballot in 2012 - a measure that read as if it had 
been drafted by the light of a lava lamp.

Measure 80 was rejected by voters, but that doesn't necessarily 
indicate that Oregonians are hostile to the idea of legal pot. The 
measure received 47 percent of the vote despite glaring flaws. For 
instance, the initiative would have created a seven-member marijuana 
commission with a skewed membership that included five members 
elected by licensed pot growers. The proposal placed no limits on the 
amount of marijuana a person could grow or possess.

The initiative was drafted by and for pot users, and its successors 
might be the same. And any marijuana provisions placed in the 
constitution, as Stanford proposes, would be beyond the Legislature's reach.

Some state lawmakers, including Senate Judiciary Chairman Floyd 
Prozanski, D-Eugene, wisely suggested that the Legislature put a 
measure on this November's ballot that would allow state lawmakers, 
and not marijuana advocates, to write rules governing key details 
such as the level of taxation, the distribution of revenues and the 
amount of pot that Oregonians may possess legally.

Prozanski had the right approach, but too many lawmakers balked at 
the idea of putting a marijuana measure on the ballot. Without enough 
votes to clear the Senate, Prozanski's Senate Bill 1556, the measure 
to refer the legalization issue to voters, was doomed to die in committee.

Opponents, including Sen. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg, said SB 1556 had 
too many problems to work out in an off-year session. But that makes 
no sense - Prozanski's proposal simply asked voters whether they want 
to legalize marijuana and left the regulatory details to the full 2015 session.

Kruse and other lawmakers said they preferred to wait and see how 
Washington state and Colorado deal with the legalization initiatives 
that voters in those states approved in 2012. That would be prudent 
if Oregon had plenty of time to watch the other states' experiments. 
But time is not on legislators' side - ready or not, Oregonians are 
likely to be voting on the issue this fall.

Lawmakers can take some consolation that Stanford has made some 
positive changes in his latest proposals. For example, members of the 
state marijuana commission would be appointed by the governor rather 
than by the marijuana community. Stanford also proposes a limit on 
possession, albeit a high one - individuals would be allowed to 
possess up to 24 marijuana plants and 24 ounces of dried pot.

New Approach Oregon's measure would allow people who are 21 and older 
to possess up to eight ounces of dried marijuana and four plants. It 
would have the Oregon Liquor Control Commission regulate sales of the drug.

Either approach would be an improvement from the over-the-top Measure 
80. But lawmakers are letting slip through their fingers a prime 
opportunity to let voters decide whether to legalize marijuana and, 
if so, allow their elected representatives, not marijuana advocates, 
to decide the all-important details.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom