Pubdate: Sun, 09 Nov 2014
Source: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Copyright: 2014 The Oregonian
Contact:  http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/324

GETTING MARIJUANA TO MARKET SAFELY, RELIABLY AND PROFITABLY

A severe test of Oregon's resourcefulness over the next year will be 
the phase-in of legal recreational marijuana.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission is immediately tasked, with the 
passage of Measure 91, with rulemaking that will regulate pot 
throughout the state: in the licensing of sellers, in labeling 
requirements on products, in the collection of taxes shouldered by growers.

Add to the list the challenge of ensuring the public's safety and 
programs that help protect young people from the drug, and you have a 
hefty undertaking. That's to say nothing of potential complication 
from several Oregon municipalities insisting on separately taxing pot 
sales  a drive that could skew sales by venue and, if pot's price 
runs too high in the legal market, perversely stimulate the black market.

The OLCC pledged last week to travel the state in the coming months 
to meet with local officials and Oregonians to help map a rational 
path to implementation. That's a good start.

But the states of Washington and Colorado are the petri dishes to 
immediately view for real on-the-ground guidance.

Washington's thicket of regulations and high prices are proving 
burdensome to pot sellers, while the emergence of angry neighborhood 
groups over nearby pot shops exerts new pressure.

In Colorado, young folks have binged regrettably on marijuana-laced 
edibles, ending up in poison control centers, with a few children 
even showing up at their schools with doped-up candy bars from home. 
That's to say nothing of the challenge of preventing pot's seepage 
out of the respective states - a task Oregon will face, as well, with 
California and Idaho rimming hundreds of miles of border. It will be 
illegal to scoot, say, from Boise to Ontario and back again with a 
stash of legally purchased pot, but who's watching? And, in that 
scenario, who's in trouble?

Two key realms call out for the OLCC's first attentions:

Recognizing snags in a recreational marijuana market now and getting 
the right rules in place soon will help avoid a world of complication later.

Public safety.

Measure 91 allows the OLCC to regulate or prohibit pot advertising, 
and it permits the agency to set standards for product packaging and labeling.

Few things could promote safety as much as legible labeling that 
tells a consumer the THC-jacked cookie or candy he or she is about to 
eat represents one or two or four or more servings  this to prevent 
overindulgence or worse.

Smoking weed is about as good for lungs as cigarettes and should be 
known as furnishing a respiratory hazard as well as a buzz. 
Impairment while driving, while covered under the state's DUII laws, 
should be fully defined so that being stoned can be reliably gauged 
by law enforcement. Stiff penalties for adults who illegally furnish 
dope to anyone under 21 years of age, meanwhile, should be widely and 
publicly advertised.

Siting and licensing: Measure 91 leaves open the question of how many 
licensees and how many retail shops might sell recreational marijuana 
in Oregon. Both are up to the OLCC, which will start taking 
applications for licenses to grow, process, distribute and sell 
marijuana in January 2016. The price for licenses will be $1,000 
annually, and an applicant can be from anywhere unless the OLCC 
chooses otherwise  that is, a group from Texas or California could 
find investment opportunity here. It makes sense that cities and 
towns exert their preferences on concentrations of sales, and the 
siting of retail shops, within their borders.

Oregon communities will need to estimate anticipated local impact, 
and policing needs, by knowing the experience of communities in 
nearby Washington. The OLCC can help codify and make available such 
information.

In becoming the third state to legalize recreational marijuana, 
Oregon should immediately profit from the experience of two other 
states. Yet Oregon has the advantage of taking some time to devise 
rules reflecting the concerns of Oregonians - before home-growing can 
occur in July of next year and retail recreational sales kick open 
sometime after the first licenses are granted, in 2016. But 
recognizing the complexities of a legalized recreational marijuana 
market now and getting the right rules in place soon will help avoid 
a world of complication later.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom