Author: administrator

Oregon’s campaign to regulate, legalize and tax marijuana has won several new endorsements and released a new campaign commercial featuring an after-school program leader from Eugene.

Coinciding with the start of school, the latest 30-second campaign commercial, released today, features Mike Schwab, an after school program leader from Eugene.

“Under our current marijuana laws, one mistake can ruin a life,” he says in the video. “Measure 91 removes unfairly harsh punishments for marijuana offenses.” Measure 91 is projected to generate tens of millions of dollars in new revenue, and a 40 percent of it will go to schools.

Today is National Voter Registration Day! To celebrate it we wanted to thank those who have registered, updated their registration and encourage those of you who haven’t to read these 5 reasons you should check your voter status:

1. In the last year, about 150,000 people in Oregon were removed from the voter list due to a variety of reasons. Make sure you weren’t one of them.

2. Your vote matters. For Measure 91 to win, we need people like you and your friends to vote. Check your registration

3. There’s only 21 days left to update it! Check it here.

4. If you get it updated today, you don’t have to do it tomorrow! Check it here.

5. So you can VOTE YES on MEASURE 91!

Check that your voter registration is up to date!

There are many reasons why we need a new approach to marijuana in Oregon. It’s a waste of money and resources to lock up non-violent marijuana users. A legal, regulated system with taxes on marijuana will fund vital state services.

Another positive impact of marijuana regulation is that it will better protect our wilderness, parklands, farmland and forests.

Criminal growers with links to drug cartels hide their illegal operations on public lands. They don’t care how much damage is done to fragile habitats in national parks, state parks and wilderness areas.

Growing unregulated marijuana in natural areas destroys local ecosystems, by:

• Destroying native, fragile plant life and habitat; and
• Illegally diverting water from streams and creeks for irrigation, which in turn dries out water sources for fish and plants.

Indoor illegal marijuana growing can use a tremendous amount of energy. Some don’t follow the fire code or have access to energy conservation techniques or equipment. They won’t ask for help with solar panels and power-saving equipment, and have no incentive to do so.

Measure 91 will help reverse these unintended consequences.

Most importantly, a legal market will help drive criminal market cartel growers out of business. Marijuana will be grown by licensed individuals with no need to hide in our forests. There will be less need for resource-heavy indoor grows. Those who grow indoors can do so with the help of energy-saving equipment and conservation measures.

This November, we’ll be voting to regulate, legalize and tax marijuana. One of the reasons we’re voting ‘yes’ is to better protect our environment.

(This information furnished by Tara Sulzen.)

A regulated approach will more safely control marijuana.

The jobs of EMTs and firefighters are already treacherous enough. Illegal marijuana growing can make our job even tougher. That’s why we need a safer approach to controlling marijuana and why I am voting Yes on Measure 91.

A regulated approach to marijuana will cut down on illegal growing so that firefighters are safer.

You may know about illegal marijuana growing in our forests. But illegal growing operations also make our neighborhoods more dangerous. Illicit growers go to great lengths to hide their electricity consumption, including stealing electricity from others using dangerous homemade power lines that can easily catch fire. They set up in quiet neighborhoods like yours and mine so they don’t attract attention.

Measure 91 creates a system of legitimate businesses that would be treated like other businesses. They would:

• pay for proper electricity and professional installation;
• install sprinklers and adhere to fire code; and
• meet zoning standards and be located where they belong, not hidden away.

Illegal growing operations make the outdoors more dangerous. In training for wildland fires, we are warned of the dangers from large illegal growing in wildfire­infested areas. Because these operations are illegal, they are often protected by booby ­traps or arms, and firefighters are instructed to get away from them ­ even if it means walking away from a fire that needs our attention.

Measure 91 fights back against drug cartels so that they face competition with the regulated market and go out of business.

Let’s make our neighborhoods and wildlands safer by regulating, legalizing, and taxing marijuana. I’m a former EMT and volunteer firefighter, and I’m voting Yes on 91.

Brad Stewart, Nehalem

This information furnished by Bradley G Stewart.