Legalize it? What Measure 80 could mean for Oregon
Watch this site and KVAL News@6 on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, for more on this story
EUGENE, Ore. - Cannabis, marijuana, pot - whatever you call it, living in Oregon we're always hearing about it.
Right now, it's considered an illegal substance unless you have a medical marijuana card.
But on Nov. 6 that could potentially change if voters pass Measure 80, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act.
"Right now marijuana is totally unregulated," said medical marijuana user Jim Greig. "This would set up a system of distribution and regulation similar to alcohol."
Greig, who is also a member of Oregonians for Safe Access, said Measure 80 would increase public safety while creating a series of regulations around the growth and sale of cannabis.
"Right now it's easier for a high school kid to get marijuana than it is to get alcohol, this law would change that," said Greig.
According to the pro Measure 80 website, the tax act would ensure marijuana is only sold to adults over 21 and save the state money in cannabis related law enforcement and judicial costs.
"It would change the way that a lot of law enforcement agencies do business," said Sargent Carrie Carver with the Lane County Sheriff's Office.
LCSO along with the Oregon State Sheriff's Association and every other sheriff's office in the state oppose Measure 80, according to Carver.
"Basically Measure 80 would legalize marijuana and hemp in Oregon, and it's illegal federally, so there would be a conflict there," she said. "It would put our laws in conflict with other laws that we're bound to right now."
Carver said the measure would also put Oregon out of compliance with the federal Drug Free Workplace Act.
"It changes how we train our people, it changes a lot of things," she said. "How would you handle impairment levels? How would you handle driving? How would you handle you know, where people are allowed to grow? There's so many different variables."
And ultimately it will come down to Oregon voters to decide whether they want to see it legal.
"If it's going to be recreational, then let's slap a tax on it and have people pay for it just like they do alcohol and cigarettes," said Eugene voter Marilyn Ward. "I'll probably vote yes. It’s just like alcohol or cigarettes. I don't approve of either one of those, but that's not the point really."
Other voters have a different opinion of Measure 80.
"I don't feel that it should be legalized and second of all," said Eugen voter Brenda Broadsword. "I would be against it because of another tax. I don't think we need another tax on anything."
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Marijuana prohibition is not a burden on society
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Oregonians have said NO twice to marijuana pot stops in Oregon, once in 2004, and once in 2010.
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Now Oregonians have overwhelming said NO to marijuana legalization with a 55%NO Statewide and 50% NO in Lane County. Thank you Oregonians for seeing through the smoke screen of the marijuana legalizers attempts to distort the dangers of marijuana.
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Studies have shown that expanded availability and perceived social acceptance will increase marijuana use among youth. Oregon currently has the nationâs third highest rate of marijuana use among youth, ages 12 â 17.5. Adult drug treatment admissions for marijuana use in Oregon have soared above all other illegal drugs.
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Oregonians will continue to say NO to marijuana legalization attempts!
Taxes are not the issue here. If anything, Oregon needs taxes on marijuana since, just like our liquor stores, it would help bring in millions of dollars to our state's coffers which would go to improve our state even further. A while back, when I was a student at Portland State University, I came across a sign on a window in downtown Portland, and it basically asked the question, "Would you rather toke on a joint legally and hang out reading a book or participating in intellectual activity or go to a kegger and drink booze until you pass out by a toilet after throwing up all night?" Alcohol is fully legal, you can buy it in stores everywhere, you can even BREW YOUR OWN BEER or make your own hard alcohol all you want but for some reason marijuana is nowhere to be found in the public market and growing / cultivating it is a federal offense. WHAT?! Teens have easier access to pot than they do booze, so criminalizing weed obviously doesn't do anything to deter its use and does not "save our kids" from getting high whenever they want.
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Each and every state has sovereignty where the constitution fails to enumerate federal powers; it's the 10th amendment. Oregon is a sovereign state under the US Constitution, which supersedes all federal law. Otherwise, our US Constitution, upon which all of our federal laws are supposed to be based, would be worthless because our federal government could just make up any law they want regardless of the people or states which make up our union. Oh wait! They already ignore the Constitution (cannabis prohibition, NDAA, fighting state's sovereignty, etc.)! Every state needs to declare sovereignty from the federal government and form regional unions within our country if we are ever going to move forward towards the future. It's perfectly legal, as it is in our Federal Constitution.
Let me just tell you as a teenager, it's very easy to get.
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If you legalize it or not, people are still going to smoke it/eat it. If your kid at age 10 is smoking it, well that's the parents fault if they don't want their kid smoking it.. than slap them, not the pot itself.. I believe it should be legal in my personal opinion. 21+ and not be aloud to drive while on it. Its same laws as alcohol. If you all forgot, alcohol is a drug and if you say you have never drank a sip than you're lying. May I remind you as well, a lot of celebrities smoke it. It helps with a lot of medical stuff and helps people be less stress (less suicides, bullying, helps be more social, its easier to focus on school when your less stress, ect.) I'm just saying, I know plenty of stoners that get straight A's cause they can focus and be less stress about what others think. Our past presidents have smoked it, even grew it in the white house... it seriously can't be that bad... just make some rules with it. Like driving... you drive normal or you drive slow while on it... alcohol you don't think and drive crazy... 1 out of every 3 or so people smoke it... meaning you or someone you know smokes it... Just legalize it already.
and it can help prevent cancer and other major medical issues as well. No existing evidence of anyone dying of a marijuana overdose. ( IT'S NOT A GATEWAY DRUG!!!! ) Marijuana does impair short-term memory, but only during intoxication. It helps with ADHD. There is a lot of benefits, but there is also worries with it as well... but not everything is perfect but if alcohol is legal.. so should marijuana.
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What will decrease..
- Bullying
- Stress
- Illnesses
- Crams for woman (other symptoms as well)
- Eating disorders.
- Depression
ect.
What will increase...
- Schooling (Education)
- Social interaction
- Law Enforcement on the issue
- Cures
ect.
Well I hate to be your reality check, but here goes:
Tobacco is an excellent example of a product that has some folks strongly for and against its use, as well as an industry making millions from it's production and consumption...right??
Now..its heavily regulated, and taxed as you would have pot become.
The law require you to be 18 years of age to purchase it....
UH OH....That part where the law comes in? It doesn't work
Kids as young as 10 have been able to gain access to cigarettes and chewing tobacco since as far back as I can remember (that would be over 50 years).
Folks are busted trying to skirt the tax laws every few months...whether they are buying truckloads from other states, or buying truckloads from Indian reservations.Â
There is ALWAYS a criminal market for products that are heavily regulated. No matter the product.
Measure 80 will fail. Not because there is no support for personal consumption mind you, but because your arguments for legalization have been proven wrong for so many other products.Â
Name some more you say??
Credit cards
Currency
Music
Blah Blah Blah
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 @flor3nc3 Wow. I was unaware that kids couldn't easily get pot right right. And since when is buying something in an area where taxes are lower an offense? =/ And last I checked, there is a criminal market for marijuana right now. How about the argument for legalization that, oh, I don't know... the government just has no rightful business telling an adult what they can and cannot put into their body?
I thought you had a background in law..but here you go;
Transporting more than 50 cartons across state lines is a Felony.Â
Your argument for legalization about the government has no rightful business to regulate what you put in your body??
Alchohol;Â Driving while drunk / Public intoxication / Â Minor in possesion by consumption / Many employers have random alchohol screens.
Heroin/Meth/Cocaine; Driving while under the influence of a controlled substance / Possesion by consumption / Many employers have random drug screens.
Prescription narcotics;  Driving under the influence / public intoxication / Many employers do random drug tests and require verification of presciption.
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The government and most employers require a drug/alchohol test as part of a pre employment screening.  There goes that argument.....next?  Â
 @flor3nc3 Constitutional law, not tax law. The only thing I know about tax law is the constitutional basis of it. I also don't know anything about cigarettes, as I don't smoke. I'm assuming that's what you're referring to. Thanks for the info. It's good to know. I think that being a felony is completely absurd though. =/Â
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As for the government having no rightful business telling an adult what they can or cannot put in their body... I said adult. Minors don't have all the rights of adults. The government has every right to make some restrictions on what you do in public and on public roads. Employers have every right to make their own rules regarding drugs/alcohol. None of that is the government telling an adult what they can't put in their body... it's only telling them they can't do it in certain places or as a condition of employment. That's not a violation of anything. And I think prohibition of any type of drug is completely outside the realm of rightful government power. Marijuana, heroin, meth, Xanax, Percocet... not the government's business. Literally the only thing I can see the government have any right in restricting is antibiotics.Â
I believe this group here may appreciate the information I am going to share, and I would love to see more Oregon residents put 'Nullification' into their vocabularies. It is the solution to any and all federal legislation that oversteps its bounds. Remember, We the People created the states, who in turn created the federal government. The federal government is our agent, not owner. Nullify now! http://www.libertyclassroom.com/nullification/
I will be voting YES on 80! The Libertarian Party and freedom-loving Americans in general support decriminalization and putting an end to the government failure known as the War on Drugs. Allowing any government intervention regarding an individual's own body will always be unjust and immoral in my opinion, but Measure 80 is a movement in the right direction.
Ok everyone. It seems like there's a lot more PRO supporters of Measure 80 out there! Which is incredible! It looks like we are on our way to passing this bill into law!Â
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Everyone needs to get out there and do the next step, VOTE! Tell your friends to do the same, we can't just rely on our gut feeling that it will pass and that others will step up for us. WE the people have to get out there and have it count. We've let other bills slide by a small margin when some of us have stayed indoors, this time we have to get out there.Â
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The Oregonian today said that passage of the bill is trailing by 6pts according to some poll they did. I don't know that i trust them completely, but it lit a fire. We have to make the change if we want this. Get the ballot off the counter or go in and VOTE my friends!Â
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I'm 33 years old, and I'm tired of the prohibition of Cannabis in all its forms. Voting YES on 80.Â
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All my pot growing friends say this is bad for Oregon and they are going to vote against it, they are the experts, so, I am throwing them my support.
 @Fancy Jack YES! Vote YES! Taxation might be the compromise of this measure but the good far outweighs the bad. This bill opens the door for everything, Mairjuana as a medicine, a textile, and as a free natural born plant that it should be.Â
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My pot growing friend doesn't want me to support it either, of course not! That's his income. Find me a "dealer" who supports this measure and I'll be floored. This gives people access to it like never before. How can it lead to more corruption when it would take the profits out of cartels and put it in our own state? It's not like the tax goes to the federal reserve like ALL of our federal income tax. This would go right back to the state, not all taxes are evil.Â
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Especially when you look at the personal rights this measure ensures. It's a free will pass to grow it, carry it, and give it to your friends. What's wrong with that if you already enjoy it? I for one am fed up being an older smoker and having it be harder and harder to find. I also dislike that it's socially unacceptable in many of the circles I travel in just because it's illegal. So is speeding, how many poeple do that?Â
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Anyway, off track. My point is that the myths and arguments over Measure 80 are completely irrelevant. Why doesn't my friend want the bill to pass? Well he's afraid of the federal govrnment creating some kind of list, raids, and of course he knows the street price of weed will drop sharply. We are talking $40 for an ounce. As for the federal government and people being scared, I think their beliefs are misplaced and inverted. Scared to pass a law? WHAT?! We need to set the precedent at the state level. Colorado and Washington are set to pass bills of their own. Do you really think that if Oregon, Wash, Cali, and Colorado all have legal use of marijuana that the federal government is going to continue to fight their own people on something signed into law? There is NOTHING negative about this bill for people who smoke and desire to interact with cannabis in the future.Â
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I implore you, vote YES on Measure 80. You know I'm even sorry about posting anonymously, I wish I could back this thing up full force and shout it from the roof top. Unfortunately there's a terrible social stigma about weed and it could affect me personally if people knew I supported the bill. It's unfortunate that propoganda from the 1930s is still working on people.Â
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YES.Â
 @Fancy Jack Hmmm...would hurt their profits too much, would it.
@Nogod I was always told the the underground pot economy was equal to the states legitimate economy, we are risking half of the states true economy with this venture.
@flor3nc3 Nor can I, it just causes the corrupt to become more corrupt. The problem, corruption has already put the state in such bad financial condition it is down to firing people or taxing more. Who do you think is going to win this argument with Progressives running the state?
I can never see any benefit to ANY new form of taxation.
@colorowdy @Nogod You sound like a Revenuer
 @Fancy Jack  @Nogod From what you just stated it seems the "under ground" income people don't want to have to pay taxes which is one of the reasons this is being purposed, to bring in tax revenue. Making growing operations "legal business" regulated by a state agency in which a taxation would be imposed. The growers would need to get in line with all other businesses. Small operations may be subjected to a self employment taxation which is a draw back. Too many unknown factors in this but the Growers should be able to step up to become legit as any business.
I am really torn on this one. I am so set in what I am voting on and this....this is the one I am still undecided on..wow. The plus and the minus weighing it all out is taxing..no pun intended.
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I take voting serious and understand how local voting is so important, the affects are seen immediate. I am not against the revenue potential at all. Sounds like there are some holes and I do believe we have seen some of the Federal repercussions in CA. so legit to use them as a "study" in this situation.
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Oregon is a different type of society in majority compared to CA but CA is larger. I have lived in big cities, island, small city, small town. I like Oregon it feels right for me. I would not like to see this avenue open before it can be handled properly.
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I would hate to see it turn into a avenue for snarky business men coming in with money backing deals you know? The fact that so much of our courts and jails would not be filling with minor offensives related sounds appealing but I wonder if that would be true if this was not nailed down to close loopholes that would potentially hurt the people of Oregon.
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I need to do some more reading on this. I see it as potential and open to reading and hearing both sides I am weighing both sides heavy on this one.
I'm not comfortable with a brain surgeon smoking a bowl of weed to steady his nerves just before I go under the knife...or climbing aboard a plane with both pilots stoned out of their minds...they already have an issue with drunk pilots. A cop firing up a doob and then pulling me over because I "may have" not signaled for a turn..he doesn't remember?
I don't want it legal...sorry....wait! I'm actually NOT sorry ;/
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 @flor3nc3 What makes you think a brain surgeon or a pilot would do that? That's just a cop-out.Â
 @flor3nc3 How does the potential for misuse and abuse make the proposed measure any less valid? That's like saying well if this gets passed, someone might attack someone else. It's not a result of the measure, it's people's poor human nature. And that isn't the responsibility of this proposed law reform.Â
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All the things you mentioned would be terribly illegal and wouldn't change because this bill passes. That's a terrible argument, and all it does is reinforce the idea that we live in a culture of fear. You are more afraid of what "might" happen then what is actually occurring. Do you cringe when you get in your car because you might get in an accident? Because it's illegal to speed, and their might be people on the road without insurance or a drivers license who are breaking the law. Who do you blame that on? It makes me wonder if half of these comments are paid for by the opposition in some way.Â
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Weed has such a stigma, but you know Alcohol is fine right, I'm sure you or your surgeon doesn't drink.Â
 @flor3nc3 more likely to run into professional under influence of some pain killer or happy pills. Ocycodin and vicadin are so over prescribed their abuse is on par with meth and heroin.  Kip Kingel and the killer of officer Kincully were under influence of pharma drugs prescribed by a so called professional.
 @flor3nc3 it would be the same as alcohol. no using on the job, no using during lunch or smoke breaks. harsh penalties for those who do chose such descisions.
Gosh, I didn't even know what marijauna was until I went into the military. I wonder how we ever got along without it, and cell phones, and all the other drugs people use these days prescription and otherwise. What are we becoming? What is next?
@souptonuts I'm not criticizing what you said. Just wanted to throw out a fact for ya. The Constitution of The United States is written on hemp. Half of the founding fathers grew hemp. And at one point it was illegal NOT to grow hemp. But that being what it is. I do support this for one reason. I use it to manage pain in my lower back and to help me sleep at night. I simply can not afford to get the OMMP card because they have put it out of my reach financially.
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@RougeCoyote It is not my place to tell you to use marijuana or not. If you are using it legally, I do not have a problem with that at all. If you are using it illegally, I have a problem with it. If it is a bad law work to get it changed. At any rate I am not going to get into your business regarding whether or not you do something legal or illegal, all I have ever been about is that if you do something illegal, get caught, take your medicine (no pun intended) and don't be a whiner. I am all about truth, honor and self responsibility, and people minding their own business instead of trying to mind everyone else's.
@PleaseBeSmart You go right ahead and put into your body whatever you want to, I don't care. If the law says it is illegal, I still don't care. What I say, if it is illegal and you think it is a bad law, work to get it changed. If it is illegal and you get caught knowing full well the consequences of your act, don't whine about it. It is not mine or anyone else's business what you put in your body, but if you get drunk or doped up and kill someone on the highway then it becomes everyone's business.
 @souptonuts Why does it matter if someone is using it illegally? Legality doesn't make something right or wrong, and the government has no rightful place to tell an adult what they can and cannot put in their own body.
M8O prohibits any regulations and fees to grow Hemp with undefined THC levels, which is the primary psychoactive component of marijuana, posing the possibility that thousands of acres of rural farmland across Oregon could be bought up for the sole purpose of growing marijuana and hemp.  Federal law currently prohibits the growth of hemp. Because the Hemp seeds would not be regulated seeds and starter plants could virtually be available at your local garden and plant nurseries, therefore leaving the door open for anyone to purchase including youth.
The drug legalizers have a âbring back hempâ campaign aimed at students who are being recruited into the pro-drug ideology by the use of false economic and environmental claims. 1
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The U. S. Department of Agriculture and other research shows that the hemp market will be only a small, thin market and is not really economically viable as a fiber or a food or a cosmetic. 2 Hemp is not an environmentally friendly crop because there is a fertilization requirement and the need to deal with insect pests and the use of fungicides to treat the seeds. Hemp creates more soil nutrient depletion than cotton, flax, and grain crops.3
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In 1999, the government agency Health Canada, conducted an assessment of human health problems from ingestion of hemp food and cosmetics and pointed out that there were potential health risks from hemp consumption to the brain, the reproductive system, and cognitive and motor skills. 4Â Â Cultivation of industrial hemp as a commercial crop would necessitate enormous monitoring costs to prevent it from being diverted to the illegal drug use market. 5
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1 Hemp Clothing is Here, High Times, March 1990, page 74
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2 Industrial Hemp in the United States: Status and Market Potential, United States Department of Agriculture, January 2000, (www.ers.usda.gov/publications/ages001E/ Scroll & click Full Report); Atchison, Joseph E., Atchison Consultants, Inc., Sarasota, FL, Putting the Use of Hemp (Cannabis sativa) as a Papermaking Raw Material Into the Proper Perspective, Prepared for Presentation at a DEA sponsored Conference on Hemp Cultivation for Industrial Purpose, Crude Marijuana for Medical Purposes and Legalization of Marijuana, Jefferson City, MO, November 1997.
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3 Williams, Brad, American Forest and Paper Association, Washington, D.C., Hemp, Paper and Reality, July 2, 1999.
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4 Health Canada study says THC poses health risk, Article by A. Mcilroy, Globe and Mail, Ottawa Canada July 27, 1999.
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5 Correspondence between Timothy Pifer, Laboratory Director for the New Hampshire State Police Forensic Laboratory and Joyce Lohrentz with the Illinois Drug Education Alliance, February 14, 2000; Letter from Chief Murray McMaster, Sarnia Police Force re: Hemp Cultivation â Potency
 @Impacts of Marijuana Total BS.Â
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I could cite all the court case like where the Supreme Justice declared Marijuan does not affect the brain adversely. In fact it doesn't kill brain cells like alcohol. I could also inform you the threat to big pharma, the timber industry, and so forth of using hemp and marijuana as a multi use product.Â
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The reason hemp isn't a vialble alternative to paper is two fold. For one it is regulated right now as YOU mentioned regardless of THC levels and it is difficult under current sanctions to grow it. Secondly, feds have been known to raid even legal hemp crops for whatever reason. And matter of factly, it's difficult to process because the fibrous nature of the plant makes it very difficult to use the same machinery we have in place for other textiles to create hemp clothing or paper. new technology has to be invested. The latter won't happen until we have free and easy access to hemp as a material.Â
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The argument where you listed the Canadian government having to monitor hemp outweighed it's cost as a reason why to vote NO on measure 80 is also BS. Yes, I could see the government absorbing extra costs, IF the plant remains illegal. Under this measure that's exactly what 80 intends to fix is idiotic loopholes and mistreatment of this plant.Â
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And as for kids walking in and picking it up for themselves how will that be possible again? Can kids walk into a home brewing shop and start making their own beer? Again, you have the same fear mongering posturing as the person above you.Â
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"if we pass this law, people will break it, and then things will be worse." I've got news for you, the people who are breaking the law are breaking the current law. And I'm sorry if you can't accept responsibility that as a parent you should be the one in charge of your own kids. Measure 80 offers plenty of intended legal purposes, none of which are to create awkward side effects of people willing to break a law that hasn't passed yet.Â
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That's asinine.Â
@Impacts of Marijuana I call B S
 @RougeCoyote  @Impacts I've seen this cookie cutter spam post on other comment boards. Looks like someone is on a crusade. Hide your witches!
oh please I'm voting yes for 80. course they could lower the age limit to 18. I see no point in making it 21 when those under that age get it already. And in all honesty age limits are just plan stupid in the first place. the sheriffs should be going more after crack, cocaine, meth and all those type of drugs then pot.
Worse comes to worse, we could just repeal it. It's not like laws are immutable.Â
NO NO NO NO! END OF STORY!
 @Coosbayresident oh boy. you really have your head on backwards. it is just sensible to vote yes. I've never used, but it just makes sense. I'm mostly interested in it protecting our kids, my kids especially. who knows what they could pick up on the streets now?? but after its regulated, they wont have any access to it because 21+ will be strictly enforced in state licensed stores.
 @Coosbayresident Does Lance hold those same views?Â
 @Nogod  @Coosbayresident Duh! Of course he does! Who are you?!
 @Coosbayresident What, no name calling this time?
The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, established by Oregon Ballot Measure 67, would have already put Oregon out of compliance with Federal law. But it did not. 21USC903
What most people seem to be overlooking is that Marijuana is illegal on a federal level. Federal law trumps state law EVERY time.This measure is a waste of taxpayers dollars by wasting the ink and paper to print it on.
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@Chemla Read the 10th amendment of the Constitution. Fed law doesn't supersede State law. You buying into the propaganda.
 @Chemla The way to change federal law  is to change state law to bring the issue to a head. The federal law is wrong, it needs to change and almost everyone knows it. Even most of the police arguing against measure 80 acknowledge that federal law is outdated and must change.Â
 @John Sajo Exactly!Â
@Chemla The Death With Dignity Act was also illegal at the federal level, and you don't see the feds beating down our doors over that, do you? Besides, Oregon has a century-old history of voting in direct opposition of federal law. We did it when women won the right to vote in Oregon in 1912. Â
 @Chemla State law enforcement does not enforce federal law, they enforce state law. And federal drug law says that state drug laws trump federal drug laws at 21 U.S.C. 903. Look up 21USC903 on Google. You are wrong.
The worst part of this is......You know how many idiots who are going to vote against this but drink regularly? Â How can they stomach themselves??? Â Â Â Â Â
Carver's comments are strange and beg comment. Yes, those would all be the issues we would need to address. I don't see what the problem would be. With alcohol we already deal with impairment levels, and we're already relying on police judgment for that. Where it can be grown, that is just a zoning issue. The police shouldn't fret, local authorities are already experienced in zoning.
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Also it would in no way create a problem with the federal Drug Free Workplace Act. That is a really strange and thin claim. The DFWA requires certain federal contractors to provide a drug-free workplace. Measure 80 doesn't force employers to let their employees smoke pot, that is just crazy talk. Federal contractors will maintain their current drug-free workplace practices. Obviously.