Rep. Blumenauer: Ore. voters will legalize pot 'sooner rather than later'
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PORTLAND, Ore. – The push to legalize marijuana across America took center stage in Portland Sunday.
Congressman Earl Blumenauer held a town hall meeting on marijuana reform, a topic that has gained steam since Washington and Colorado legalized possession of the drug last November.
The U.S. Department of Justice has not yet responded to those state-level changes.
Blumenauer, a long-time supporter of legalizing marijuana, says he has about two-dozen lawmakers working with him to reassess the government’s policy on pot.
The Democrat told the audience gathered at the Dishman Community Center in Northeast Portland that he wants Congress to clear up the government’s response to states that approve pot use.
“What I want to make sure is that the federal government isn’t screwing it up, getting in the way of what local voters want to do and after they decide, not interfering with how local voters want to implement it,” said Blumenauer.
The Marijuana Policy Project, a national advocacy group, plans to spend at least $700,000 in Oregon to try to convince voters that pot should be legalized in 2016. Advocates plan to target business owners, women and other groups they believe are key to turning public opinion.
“Talking to law enforcement, talking to seniors, talking to rural communities,” said group representative Roy Kaufman. “We want to come to Oregonians in 2016 with a smart, compelling, strong approach to taxing and regulating marijuana.”
Last year, Measure 80 failed by more than 110,000 votes statewide, although it passed by 75,000 votes in Multnomah County.
It takes 218 votes in the House and at least 51 in the Senate to pass a law, plus the approval of the President.
Blumenauer said he expects Oregon voters to legalize pot within the next decade. He says he plans to push legislation that will help marijuana-related businesses to secure bank loans and allow for hemp production.
“This is an area that is going to be changed,” said Blumenauer. “It’s going to be changed sooner rather than later.”
I don't want stoned people behind the wheel of a car. Â I don't want my kids using pot. Â Ever.
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I will always vote against pot.
 @Finewheels I don't want drunk people behind the wheel of the car. Does that mean we should bring back alcohol prohibition? Your kids will grow up an make their own decision. That's how it is.Â
@PleaseBeSmart @Finewheel Your arguement is pure B.S. Anybody who hangs out with loadies knows that most of them also drink alcohol when they smoke. I don`t mind that people smoke weed, but I do mind when they try to blow their smoke up the ignorant, gullable liberal`s behinds. Finewheels is right. and you are wrong. Some loadies thing they can drive high same as drunks think they can drive drunk. What offends me about you is that you are trying to convince others including some impressionable kids that driving while impaired is harmless and  ok. As much as you`ld like for the general public to believe that everything about weed is sunshine and roses, It isn`t that way.  It`s a dirty business and a dishonest campaign. As much as I smoked in my younger days, I would also vote against legalizing it every time it comes up.Â
 @Hunter You apparently need to reread what I wrote and stop being so abrasive. Did I say driving impaired is harmless? No I did not. I never suggested it was okay in any way. My entire point was that you can be against driving under the influence, but for substances being legal.
 @Finewheels there are already people driving stoned.. your kids probably already smoke pot... that will never change no matter how you vote
I'm for legalizing marijuana. But that's about all I'm going to say about it until 2015. To get into a debate about it this far out just seems like a circle jerk if you know what I meen.
Yep, time to end the (haha) "medical" marijuana farce and just be done with it.
How does the analogy about the lemmings go again?