Myth:

Current marijuana laws do not unfairly target people of color in Oregon.

Reality:

There are huge and unjustified racial disparities in how current marijuana laws are implemented.

According to an ACLU analysis of FBI crime statistics, billions are wasted on racially-biased arrests because we treat marijuana use as a crime. People of color in Oregon are 2.1 times as likely to be arrested even though there is not any difference in frequency of use between the races, according to the ACLU’s analysis, “The War on Marijuana in Black and White”.
Current drug laws unfairly target people of color in Oregon. Find out more about the initiative to legalize and regulate.

Myth:

Under the New Approach Oregon Measure, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) cannot deny licenses from someone if the person has a conviction for selling drugs, multiple DUIs or various other reasons.

Reality:

The OLCC can deny licenses to anyone convicted of any law if that conviction is “related to the fitness and ability of the applicant to lawfully carry out activities under the license.”

The OLCC also has authority to deny licenses to applicants for many other reasons. The measure also provides the agency with broad rule-making authority to regulate, inspect and audit applicants and licensees. (Source: Section 29(2)(D) and Section 7 of the initiative.)

Myth:

This bill has no regulation on how marijuana is advertised.

Reality:

Limitations on marijuana advertising would be extremely strict.

The restrictions are almost identical to those for beer, wine, liquor and cigarettes. For example, it bans advertising in places frequented by youth.

(For more details on the restrictions in advertising, see Section 7(2)(g) of the initiative.)

Reality:

Prohibition is even more damaging. Prohibition of alcohol backfired and was a greater cost to society than legalizing it was.

To quote The Guardian, “Those behind Prohibition saw a ban on the sale of ‘intoxicating liquors’ as a crusade against a moral evil. But the big winners were Al Capone and the mob.”

With tobacco, smoking rates have fallen to new lows, thanks to regulation and taxation. Regulation and taxation of marijuana is a better approach than prohibition.

Why we need marijuana regulation in :45 seconds flat

Our team worked hard on this short video presentation that shows why it’s time to regulate, legalize and tax marijuana in Oregon. You might recognize the narrator’s voice from the radio and television; it’s travel guru Rick Steves.

He’s been around the world and seen how other societies tackle complex social issues. Steves agrees with a growing number of Oregonians, and millions across the country, that it’s time for a better approach to marijuana. It starts with voting Yes on Measure 91.

Hop on Twitter and Facebook! Share this video with your friends and family using- bit.ly/M91MotionInfo -Spread the word on Measure 91. #VoteYesOn91

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Rick Steves is visiting a town in Oregon near you soon. Click here to RSVP to one of his events. They’re filling up fast. He’ll talk travel and how Measure 91 is a better approach to marijuana regulation.

If you can’t attend, or you want to keep up with Rick on the tour, search #RickYESon91 on Twitter.

3 Reasons Why The New York Times Endorsement is a Big Deal for Oregon

1. The New York Times has authority on the topic:

After in-depth consideration of both sides of the issue of marijuana legalization, the New York Times came out this summer with a series of six thorough and thoughtful opinion pieces on the reasons to, and results from, establishing a regulated, legal system of controlling marijuana. You can see the series HERE. As the ‘paper of record’ in the United States, the New York times is the guiding light for all print media in today’s public discourse.

Now the Times has put their money where their mouth is and written a piece urging all three locales with marijuana legalization on the ballot in the US – Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia – to continue the movement of reforming marijuana policy. Below is the section about Oregon.

2. The endorsement joins that of three Oregon newspapers (thus far), including the state’s two largest newspapers:

The Oregonian and The Register Guard, the two most-circulated papers in Oregon, are also urging voters to pass Measure 91. The Times also joins The East Oregonian in support of Measure 91 which demonstrated the breadth of support across the state. This support is even more notable considering that none of these papers endorsed previous Oregon legalization measures.

3. Public opinion is changing and the news media is reflecting that:

Poll after poll shows that a growing majority of Oregonians and Americans support a regulated, legal system of marijuana in which it is taxed and better controlled. That’s why these papers and many organizations and individuals who haven’t previously supported marijuana reform, are coming out in favor of Measure 91, a sample of which includes:

• Two senior citizen organizations: The Oregon Council for Retired Citizens and the Oregon Alliance for Retired Americans;
• Labor organizations like AFSCME locals 88 and 328; and the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 555
• Professional organizations such as the Oregon Chapter of National Association of Social Workers, Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Portland City Club and many more.

Here’s what the paper of record had to say about Measure 91:

“OREGON Measure 91 would also set a minimum age of 21. It would give the Oregon Liquor Control Commission the power to regulate marijuana as it does alcohol, and would direct it to review tax rates regularly. The tax — initially set at $35 per ounce for flowers and $10 per ounce for leaves — should allow for prices low enough to compete with street dealers. Since it is already extremely easy for adults in Oregon to obtain medical marijuana cards (almost 65,000 Oregonians have one), recreational legalization will not be a big change. As The Oregonian editorialized in August, the measure would “be worth supporting for reasons of honesty and convenience alone.”

New polling demonstrates that a strong majority of Oregon voters are ready to regulate, tax and legalize marijuana like beer and wine. This recent polling continues a larger trend that we have been seeing across the country as more and more voters understand that prohibition is too costly and doesn’t achieve any of its stated goals. A well-regulated system will better ensure that we keep drug cartels from profiting off of the Oregon marijuana trade and that marijuana stays out of the hands of children. Licensed and regulated retail outlets will do a much better job of checking identification and removing the criminal element out of marijuana commerce than the black market. It is very heartening to see that Oregon voters are ready to regulate marijuana.

From Firedog Lake:

According to a survey by DHM Research for Oregon Public Radio, 53 percent of voters in Oregon would support legalizing marijuana for adults age 21 and older. Only 38 percent of voters in the state oppose legalization.

Back in 2012 voters rejected ballot measure 80, Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, in a vote of 46.75 percent to 53.25 percent. That measure did suffer from criticism regarding its oversight provisions for the newly legalized industry.

It is very likely the people of Oregon will have a chance to vote on marijuana legalization again this year. There are currently two campaigns gathering signatures to make it on the 2014 November ballot. One campaign is offering an revised version of their failed 2012 ballot measure and the other is New Approach Oregon with an initiative similar to the Colorado law.

We look forward to providing Oregon voters the opportunity to establish a well-regulated system that licenses commercial producers, processors and retailers under the regulatory jurisdiction of the OLCC. This regulated system will generate millions of dollars for education, public safety and mental health and substance abuse programs. Additionally, law enforcement resources will be better prioritized as officers will have more time to combat serious and violent crime. Please join our campaign to pass marijuana regulations this November by adding your voice to the majority of Oregonians who understand that it is time for a new approach.

Measure 91: Marijuana legalization, Price too high to combat vice

Another Oregon newspaper agrees that regulating, legalizing and taxing marijuana is superior to allowing the current criminal system to continue and the waste of police resources to go on. The East Oregonian has endorsed a Yes vote on Measure 91, joining The Register-Guard in Eugene and The Oregonian.

The East Oregonian’s endorsement acknowledges the ruins left behind by using law enforcement to try to regulate the marijuana market. Oregon spends more than $50,000,000 a year enforcing marijuana laws, more than 13,000 people were arrested last year alone and people of color are unjustly burdened by enforcement of prohibition- more than twice as likely as white to be arrested or cited in Oregon.

From the paper’s editorial endorsement:

“We spent millions — then billions — to combat it. We toppled governments in our own hemisphere to stop its cultivation. We imprisoned millions of our (mostly black) citizens as punishment for using it. We forbid our scientists from researching its effectiveness for medical uses.

All of that, to very little avail. Marijuana continues to abound in Oregon, from high school hallways to back alleys to suburban basements.

Finally, drug policy across the nation has been changing…. The opportunity to incorporate a policy that is similar — but better — than those in Colorado and Washington will be in front of voters in November… we support the passage of Measure 91. “

You can read the entire editorial here, however it is behind a pay wall and requires a fee.

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.