For Immediate
Release: Contact:
darby.beck@leap.cc
Wednesday,
September 30, 2015 415.823.5496
MARIJUANA
SALES BEGIN IN OREGON THURSDAY
Medical
Marijuana Dispensaries Given Head Start Before Other Stores
Oregon
Becomes First State to Expunge Prior Nonviolent Marijuana Records
Oregon,
which legalized marijuana in 2014 with Measure 91, is beginning sales tomorrow,
Thursday October 1st. Existing medical marijuana dispensaries were
permitted to get a head start on sales before other, non-medical stores, which
are expected to open in Fall 2016. This will ensure existing medical marijuana
retailers have an opportunity to fairly compete in the new market as it emerges
in the next several years. About 200 of the 345 medical shops have registered
to expand their sales to all adults and expect a significant increase in profit
margins.
“Tomorrow
Oregon becomes the third state to be able to control, regulate and tax
marijuana by making sales of the drug legal,” said Major Neill Franklin (Ret.),
executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a group of
law enforcement officials opposed to the war on drugs. “If we were to apply
this same logic to heroin and other drugs so that people with addictions knew
what they were getting, we’d not only see the public safety improvements we’ve
seen in Colorado and Washington, we’d see thousands of lives saved every year.”
On June
30th, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed into law HB
3400,
which not only created specific regulations for tracking plants from seed to
sale to ensure consumer safety and vendor accountability, but it will also
expunge thousands of prior marijuana records for nonviolent offenders.
“Millions of
Americans face lessened life opportunities because of arrest and conviction
records,” said Major Franklin. “Oregonians should be proud of the strides
they have made to restore justice to those who should never have been arrested
or incarcerated for marijuana in the first place.”
As of July 1st
of this year, adult possession and home cultivation were permitted. The law
permits adults 21 and older to grow four plants and keep eight ounces at home,
and to possess one ounce. Public consumption and sales will continue to remain
illegal. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the agency charged with
regulating marijuana in the state, will begin to accept applications for
cultivation, processing, testing, and retail business licenses starting January 4th, 2016, and
recreational retailers are expected to be operational later the same year.
Four states have
thus far legalized and regulated adult use. Oregon’s regulatory model has been
developed with Washington and Colorado’s successes and failures in mind. Alaska
has not yet begun legal sales. Among the marijuana regulation priorities for
the Oregon Liquor Control Commission are preventing accidental ingestion by
children with the use of appropriate childproof packaging, and ensuring that
extracts, concentrates, and edibles are carefully regulated, tested, and
labeled.
LEAP is
committed to ending decades of failed policy that have created dangerous underground
markets and gang violence, fostered corruption and racism, and largely ignored
the public health crisis of addiction.
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