Is medical marijuana in jeopardy if recreational pot is legal
Back to Main MenuBusiness News HomeFront PorchIt Only MoneyOregon the EconomyPlaybooks ProfitsSilicon ForestWindow ShopStock Market ReportBusiness Public BlogBack to Main MenuVideos from the OregonianVideos from The Beaverton LeaderVideos from the Hillsboro ArgusVideos from The Forest Grove LeaderYour VideosBack to Main MenuThe StumpEditorialsLetters to the EditorMy OregonOpEdElizabeth HovdeDavid SarasohnAlex Pavich is the last person you expect to be on the fence about marijuana legalization.The 39 year old is a longtime marijuana consumer, using it to treat old injuries and calm his nerves. Pavich and his girlfriend, Aligrpatagonia wetsuits newa Rainy, 28, opened patagonia guide jacket and jeans1one of the first medical marijuana dispensaries in Portland, helping to launch what is now a regulated industry in Oregon. Today their shop, Collective Awakenings, is among the more well known medical marijuana retailers in the state and bustles with patients.But Pavich isn t sure whether he vote for Measure 91. to allow anyone over 21 to possess pot.Pavich, a medical marijuana grower, worries recreational pot will shift the focus from patients to profit.are in the 21st century gold rush, he said. see a lot of dollar signs in people eyes.Some worry recreational marijuana will overshadow and sideline the state medical marijuana program. They worrypatagonia guide jacket and jeans0 small scale medical marijuana growers who focus on producing high quality cannabis for the chronically ill will bepatagonia guide jacket and jeans2 squeezed out of the market. They fear if recreational pot turns into a money maker for the state, lawmakers may take a hard look at medical marijuana relevance.Then there the bottom line concern about more competition.growers like the status quo, said Don Morse, who operates Human Collective II, a Southwest Portland dispensary. are able to maintain certain price points and (Measure 91) could open up too much competition. There are a lot of them that are not interested in seeing 91. They can grow up to six mature marijuana plants and 18 immature ones, or have someone do it for them. With few exceptions, medical marijuana sold in Oregon dispensaries is not taxed. Patients must see a doctor annually to renew their medical marijuana card and they must have one of a handful of qualifying conditions, such as pain or cancer.By contrast, Measure 91 allows anyone 21 and older to possess up to eight ounces of pot per household and grow up to four marijuana plants. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission would oversee the retail market for recreational marijuana and anyone 21 and older could purchase up to an ounce of pot, which would be taxed.Alex Rogers, who owns a medical marijuana clinic in Ashland and has organized informational conferences about the state burgeoning marijuana industry, speculates that if pot is legalized, medical marijuana will eventually fade away.the beginning of the end, said Rogers, who said he will vote for the initiative.Organizers of Measure 91 have tried to deliver the opposite message to Oregon medical marijuana community, insisting that the program will not be affected by legalized pot.They repeated the pledge to a gathering of dispensary owners in Portland late last month. At one point during the private event, Anthony Johnson, chief petitioner for the initiative, asked a reporter for The Oregonian to leave, saying the presence of the press prevented a and open conversation between the campaign and medical marijuana dispensary owners.think what they are afraid of is that word will get out that some of us are not for this law, said Bee Young, who owns Wickit Weedery, a Springfield dispensary and attended the campaign event. is what they don want people to hear, that we have concerns. Washington, advocates for Initiative 502 offered a similar reassurance to that state medical marijuana community.literally that was untrue, said Hilarpatagonia discount code origamipatagonia guide jacket and jeans3y Bricken, a Seattle attorney whose practice focuses on marijuana businesses. in theory it may have been true, once I 502 went through, the Legislature immediately said, about medical marijuana? Why is it not regulated? Why is it not taxed? Do we really need it? Bricken: called into question the legitimacy of medical marijuana and the need for two systems. Colorado, where a regulated medical marijuana program runs alongside the recreational one, Washington only regulates its recpatagonia everlong review lipozenereational marijuana industry. The state is home to medical marijuana dispensaries, but they aren subject to state oversight.Bricken predicts that a new recreational pot industry will want the medical program to face the same regulations. Oregon recreational growers and producers of marijuana infused edible products, for instance, may push for rules for their largely unregulated counterpartspatagonia everlong review 901 in the medical industry, she said.recreational industry is going to go, the hell? We are heavily regulated patagonia guide jacket and jeansand you are telling me the gray market competition is going to undercut me? she said. will lobby for it. Mpatagonia guide jacket graftcPeak, a longtime cannabis advocate and executive director of Seattle Hempfest, said he voted against Washington legalization initiative in 2012, calling it of the hardest votes in my life. opposed the law impaired driving standard, its ban on home cultivation of recreational marijupatagonia guide jacket 3xlana and he worried about the implications for the state medical marijuana program. (Oregon law, by contrast,patagonia guide pants don't fit doesn impose an intoxicated driving stanpatagonia guide pants girdledard for marijuana.)is complicated stuff, he said. is no way to change 80 years of bad prohibition policy. If it happened today, I might actually vote for it. legalization advocates arpatagonia guide pants xmgue Washington is different. First, Oregon already has a regulated medical marijuana dispensary system. And, said Portland lawyer Leland Berger, the Oregon Legislature generally supports medical marijuana, setting it apart from Washington, where policymakers have considered a series of medical marijuana reforms, including doing away with patients ability to grow their own cannabis.
