The Yes on 91 campaign continues to pick up prominent endorsements, all across the great state of Oregon. The Register Guard, the#1 media source in Lane County, has joined the growing coalition of Measure 91 supporters who know that treating marijuana as a crime has failed and that Oregon can do better.
Oregon is arresting and citing more than 10,000 people every year, well over 100,000 people over the last decade. And these arrests and citations disproportionately fall upon people of color and adversely harm those with low incomes. Across Oregon, African Americans are 100% more likely to be arrested for marijuana while that number climbs to 350% in Lane County. These charges have real consequences on real people’s lives as they can disrupt employment and housing opportunities.
Arresting and citing thousands of people for marijuana every year distracts police resources from serious and violent crimes. Our state has unsolved murders, missing children and untested rape kits that are all more important priorities. The time and resources it takes to arrest people for marijuana negatively impacts our ability to tackle more important issues. Let’s stop a nonsensical policy that enriches criminals and underfunds our state.
It is time to refocus our police resources and, instead of putting money into the hands of criminals, fund education, drug treatment and public safety. The Register Guard heard from all sides of this issue and urges Oregon voters to vote “YES” on Measure 91:
“Prohibition keeps drug dealers in business — dealers who have no compunction against selling pot and other drugs to children, selling products of dubious purity and feeding profits to organized criminal enterprises. Measure 91 would pinch one of the conduits for the cash that finances drug cartels by bringing much of the underground marijuana economy into the open, where it could be monitored, regulated and taxed.
“Under Measure 91, legal sales of marijuana would be taxed at a rate of $35 per ounce — a rate low enough to ensure that licensed outlets could compete with illicit sources, yet high enough to generate revenue for the state. The Legislative Revenue Office estimates that marijuana tax revenues in the first biennium would amount to $46.6 million. Forty percent of the money would be dedicated to public schools, 35 percent to law enforcement and 25 percent to drug education, treatment and mental health programs.
“Revenues flowing directly to the state would be only part of the picture. The entire marijuana supply chain would move out of the shadows. Pot that is currently grown on booby-trapped plots on public lands would be produced by licensed, tax-paying farmers. Processing, distribution and retailing would generate taxable profits and wages.”
With The Register Guard’s endorsement, Oregon’s two largest daily newspapers have now endorsed Measure 91. They are adding to a chorus of experienced experts and organizations that include: Richard Harris, retired director of the Oregon Addiction and Mental Health Services Division; the Partnership for Safety and Justice; retired Oregon Supreme Court Justice William Riggs; and former US Attorney Kris Olson, who served as the chief federal prosecutor in Oregon. You can add your voice to the growing majority of Oregonians who know that it is time to better prioritize our police resources and fund education, law enforcement, drug prevention and drug treatment.