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Should Oregon cities and counties be allowed to ban medical marijuana outlets, already a flourishing industry in parts of the state? The Oregon Senate Judiciary Committee took up that question Tuesday at a public hearing on a proposal that would allow local governments to restrict or ban medical marijuana facilities. The state in March will begin registering these retail outlets, which fall under the Oregon Health Authority. The committee held a two-hour hearing Tuesday, but took no action. It is expected to hold a work session on the bill on Wednesday.
Sen. Rod Monroe, D-Portland, is among the lawmakers who sponsored the local control proposal. "City councilors, mayors and county commissioners are elected and they are elected locally," he told the judiciary committee. "They often know best what is good for their community." Many communities, including Medford and several in Washington County, have balked at a new state law that creates a registry of medical marijuana facilities. Some have changed their business license rules to exclude businesses that violate federal law. Marijuana, though legal for medical use in Oregon, remains prohibited under federal law. Other communitites, adopting a wait-and-see approach, are considering temporary moratoriums.
Outright bans, advocates argue, limit patients' access to medical marijuana and create hardship for people who are elderly and sick. Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, and co-sponsored last year's dispensary legislation, told The Oregonian before the hearing that authority for regulating medical marijuana outlets should remain the job of the state, not local governments.
Oregon treats medical marijuana as medicine and local governments don't have authority to regulate how medication is dispensed, he said. He said medical marijuana is the same as Vicodin, Oxycodone and penicillin. "These are recognized drugs," he said. "How can any local subdivision take it upon themselves to say they are not going to allow a particular medicine, whatever that medicine is, to be available to their community, for patients that doctors have signed off on?"
Sen. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay, who sits on the judiciary committee, appeared to agree with Prozanski. Roblan said he's "sympathetic to local control," but he expressed reservations about giving it to cities and counties when it comes to medical marijuana. "I don't see us regulating pharmacies," he said. Rob Bovett, the former district attorney for Lincoln County and current legal counsel for the Association of Oregon Counties, one of the two organizations that pushed for local control legislation, said medical marijuana dispensaries are nothing like pharmacies, which he said are tightly regulated by the state. He said some communities are worried about the program and want to see how it's implemented before allowing the facilities to open.
"We are about to roll out next month the most unregulated medical marijuana program in the nation," he said. Anthony Johnson, chief petitioner of a legalization proposal in Oregon, told lawmakers he supports "reasonable restrictions" on dispensaries but not "outright prohibition." "Those in the cannabis industry want safe neighborhoods, safe highways and want to keep marijuana out of the hands of children," Johnson said. He said the industry has a "vested interest" in making the program work. "We know that an unregulated, out of control program will invite voter backlash and federal intervention," he said. "We all want to avoid that."
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Oregonlive.com
Author: Noelle Crombie
Contact: Contact Us | Oregonian Media GroupOregonian Media Group
Website: Medical marijuana in Oregon: Bill allowing local control gets public hearing | OregonLive.com
Sen. Rod Monroe, D-Portland, is among the lawmakers who sponsored the local control proposal. "City councilors, mayors and county commissioners are elected and they are elected locally," he told the judiciary committee. "They often know best what is good for their community." Many communities, including Medford and several in Washington County, have balked at a new state law that creates a registry of medical marijuana facilities. Some have changed their business license rules to exclude businesses that violate federal law. Marijuana, though legal for medical use in Oregon, remains prohibited under federal law. Other communitites, adopting a wait-and-see approach, are considering temporary moratoriums.
Outright bans, advocates argue, limit patients' access to medical marijuana and create hardship for people who are elderly and sick. Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, and co-sponsored last year's dispensary legislation, told The Oregonian before the hearing that authority for regulating medical marijuana outlets should remain the job of the state, not local governments.
Oregon treats medical marijuana as medicine and local governments don't have authority to regulate how medication is dispensed, he said. He said medical marijuana is the same as Vicodin, Oxycodone and penicillin. "These are recognized drugs," he said. "How can any local subdivision take it upon themselves to say they are not going to allow a particular medicine, whatever that medicine is, to be available to their community, for patients that doctors have signed off on?"
Sen. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay, who sits on the judiciary committee, appeared to agree with Prozanski. Roblan said he's "sympathetic to local control," but he expressed reservations about giving it to cities and counties when it comes to medical marijuana. "I don't see us regulating pharmacies," he said. Rob Bovett, the former district attorney for Lincoln County and current legal counsel for the Association of Oregon Counties, one of the two organizations that pushed for local control legislation, said medical marijuana dispensaries are nothing like pharmacies, which he said are tightly regulated by the state. He said some communities are worried about the program and want to see how it's implemented before allowing the facilities to open.
"We are about to roll out next month the most unregulated medical marijuana program in the nation," he said. Anthony Johnson, chief petitioner of a legalization proposal in Oregon, told lawmakers he supports "reasonable restrictions" on dispensaries but not "outright prohibition." "Those in the cannabis industry want safe neighborhoods, safe highways and want to keep marijuana out of the hands of children," Johnson said. He said the industry has a "vested interest" in making the program work. "We know that an unregulated, out of control program will invite voter backlash and federal intervention," he said. "We all want to avoid that."
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Oregonlive.com
Author: Noelle Crombie
Contact: Contact Us | Oregonian Media GroupOregonian Media Group
Website: Medical marijuana in Oregon: Bill allowing local control gets public hearing | OregonLive.com
