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Volunteers are the life of our campaign. They are the public faces for Measure 91 and work hard to help make a win possible in November. Please meet some of the wonderful people giving their time to the campaign!

We need you, too! Everyone’s support is important. No matter how much time you have, we’ll make sure it is worth it. Thanks in advance for helping out the Yes on 91 Campaign!

Kaaren Graham
Lake Oswego, Oregon

Kaaren has lived in Oregon for over 30 years, and she loves her state. She spends some of her free time collecting art and other handmade goods, and is an avid button collector. She has been working to help end social injustices since she was a student at Wilkes University.

Kaaren has always thought marijuana should be legal, and she wants to see it taxed, because it will go to good causes, like schools, police, and drug education programs. Medical Marijuana helped her survive a rare cancer, and she hopes to see better access to marijuana for medicinal users and oversight by the state of dispensaries. She volunteers twice a week making phone calls and doing research for the campaign.

Sam Krause
Canby, Oregon

Sam Krause is one of our amazing volunteers at the Yes on 91 campaign. Sam is at our campaign office in Portland three times a week or more. He is one of the people that we have been able to count on from day one. He’s from Canby, Oregon. He first learned about marijuana for medical purposes from a patient who survived pulmonary cancer because she was able to relieve pain by using marijuana. Measure 91 hits home for him because his sister has epilepsy and has been able to control her seizures with marijuana.

Sam took an indirect path, but eventually ended up at Portland Community College. He enjoys working on campaigns, fundraising and doing door to door outreach. He cares about making an impact and has been working on other campaigns as well.

He has always thought marijuana should be legal, and he thinks this is the right measure. He’s glad Oregonians have paid attention and been picky because we’ll end up with a great measure and 91 is it.

Pat Hughes
Portland, OR

Pat Hughes is originally from southeastern Idaho, but made her way to Portland, which is where she feel she really belongs. Pat grew up very conservative and still thinks of herself as a simple country lady.

She has three children and has always thought of herself as a motherly figure. She is also a registered nurse and worked in neonatal intensive care and delivery for over 30 years. She is voting yes on Measure 91 because of how this will positively impact our community and make it better for children.

She volunteers for Vote Yes on 91 because she thinks this is the right step to take for marijuana. She believes it is the sensible approach and dedicates her free time to helping get the word out about Measure 91.

“Oregonians shouldn’t be forced to buy hemp from Canada or China when Oregon farmers could be growing that sustainable, environmentally-friendly cash crop right here.”

Ryan Basile, Farmer
Silverton, Oregon

Measure 91 has unprecedented support for a marijuana measure. With more endorsements than any past marijuana measure in Oregon along with endorsements from national news, it’s clear that this is the better approach for Oregon.

The Oregonian, Register-Guard, Medford Mail Tribune and The East Oregonian, are, for the first time in history, telling voters to fill in the YES circle for a measure that will regulate, legalize and tax marijuana by endorsing Measure 91. Newspapers reviewed the details of the measure and determined that it is a thorough and careful proposal.

They are joined by the Willamette Week, Portland Mercury, The Source Weekly (Bend), The Skanner, HIPFiSH Monthly, The Advocate, Street Roots and Cascade Business News.

Newspapers aren’t the only ones endorsers, the Democratic Party of Oregon, City Club of Portland, the Oregon State Council for Retired Citizens, and Oregon Alliance for Retired Americans, and the National Association of Social Workers – Oregon Chapter are all supporting a legalization measure for the first time.

We’re also proud of the support from major labor organization in Oregon: United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), AFSCME Local 328, AFSCME Local 88.

Measure 91 has strong support from local public safety and justice groups. ACLU Oregon, the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Partnership for Safety and Justice, Opal Environmental Justice Oregon and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

Prohibition of marijuana disproportionately affects people of color, with black people 100% more likely to be arrested or cited in Oregon for marijuana possession as whites, despite no difference in marijuana use between the races. Groups working for racial justice are backing Measure 91. The Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO), The Rural Organizing Project, and the Western States Center.

The current approach to marijuana is wreaking havoc on our environment,as illegal marijuana grows destroy our public lands and poison our streams and rivers, which is why the Oregon League of Conservation Voters are behind Measure 91.

Vote Yes on Measure 91.

BY DOMINIC LÓPEZ

With each new generation, there is hope that a new approach can fix an out-of-date, broken way of doing things. Students, young professionals and new homemakers overwhelmingly support the end of marijuana prohibition. Let’s put the drug dealers out of business, stop the unjust arrests, and raise some money for vital resources that serve all of us. This November, young Oregonians and communities of color need to stand up and be heard- with our voices and our ballots- by voting yes on Measure 91.

We cannot afford to have our history written for us. Every 39 minutes another Oregonian becomes a victim of our failed laws. People of color, like me, are disproportionately targeted. It perpetuates a cycle of oppression; clouding our futures and shaming our present. Black people in Oregon are more than twice as likely to be arrested for marijuana-related crimes as whites; in some counties it is 3.5-times the rate of white people. That’s despite equal rates of use across racial demographics.

Every year we wait means more lives disrupted. A criminal citation for a mistake made when you’re young follows you for a long time. It’s easy for a landlord, bank or potential employer to find a marijuana offense on your record. We need to stop burdening people with this harsh punishment for a non-violent crime.

It’s up to us to shine a light on marijuana prohibition and the harm it does. We need to make this a public conversation with our parents and our families. Break the status quo of bad science. Turn the myths upside down. One day, I will have a real conversation with my kids about responsible marijuana use instead of pretending it’s something only for people on the outside of regular society. Part of the money raised by Measure 91 is required to go to drug education programs to arm people with the knowledge the need. Those programs barely exist now, and if they do they are terribly underfunded. We can change that by voting yes on Measure 91.

Colorado and Washington chose a new approach to marijuana first. We look to their experiences for guidance. As a result, our initiative is the gold standard to regulate, legalize and tax marijuana. It would mean money guaranteed for K-12 education. Classrooms in Beaverton, the same ones where I was taught not long ago, will be less crowded.

I am 23 years old. I know a lot of people think twenty-somethings like me are fickle voters. Not this time, my friends. This is our world too, and we can shape it. We have an opportunity this November to be on the right side of history.

Marijuana prohibition is an injustice. It’s apparent when we count the thousands of arrests and citations each year, the wasted police resources, and the millions of dollars in potential revenue lost. Winning means safety through regulation, more money for our state, and an end to unjust incarceration. Get registered, and cast your ballot. Let our voice be heard. It is time for a new approach.

Dominic López is the Metro Regional Organizer for Yes On 91.

1. Once every 39 minutes someone is arrested or cited for marijuana in Oregon.

2. Current marijuana laws unfairly target people of color in Oregon. African-Americans are 2.1-times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana possession, despite no difference in levels of use among the races

3. 1 out of every 14 arrests for any crime in Oregon were for marijuana possession, a rate that far exceeds Washington and California.

4. In Washington, arrests for minor marijuana offenses dropped from 5,531 in 2012, to 120 in 2013, the year regulation took effect.

5. Oregon spent over $50 million enforcing marijuana possession laws in 2010.

6. Tax revenue for Oregon, from legal regulated marijuana, is projected to be between $46 million & $80 million in the first biennium.

7. Marijuana tax revenue will go to school funding (40%), drug treatment, prevention, and mental health programs (25%), and state and local police (35%).

8. It is estimated that the black market cartel losses will be $1.84 Billion between Washington and Oregon, if Measure 91 passes.

9. After Measure 91 passes, police will be able to focus on more serious crimes. Right now, Oregon has unsolved murders, untested rape kits, missing children, and more. Read more…