Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
The Prineville City Council wants marijuana users to know: It’s still not totally against the plant.
But until the Drug Enforcement Administration decides it’s cool with pot, adults in the area who aren’t medical marijuana cardholders will have to get it elsewhere.
However, Andrew Anderson, the owner of the only medical marijuana dispensary in town, has his own message for Prineville residents and City Hall.
“You’re going to have recreational until the end of December,” Anderson said. “We’re starting July 5.”
After waiting months for the city to decide whether to allow Anderson’s store, Plantae Health, to sell recreational pot to adults 21 and older, city councilors tentatively voted this week to update an ordinance banning all recreational marijuana shops until the federal government legalizes marijuana, which is legal in Oregon and three other states but not at the federal level.
While Prineville in June 2015 passed an ordinance blocking businesses from selling pot to adults, a state law passed that same year allows medical marijuana shops to sell some of their products to consumers through Dec. 31, 2016.
Unlike 106 other cities and counties across Oregon, which banned recreational stores permanently or until voters pass a referendum, Prineville’s law says as soon as the federal agency that enforces drug policies changes its mind on pot, it will too.
“There’s a sense that maybe someday, marijuana will come off the DEA’s list,” said Phil Stenbeck, the city’s planning director. “We already put our code in place so when it becomes legal, the next day we’re ready.”
Amid ongoing consideration by the DEA to move marijuana to a lower tier on the Controlled Substances Act, it became clear Prineville’s law was confusing. So councilors this week voted to change the law and will consider final passage in mid-July.
“Because the federal government has classified marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, the City of Prineville does not want this Ordinance to go into effect until the classification of marijuana by the federal government has been reduced,” the city’s ordinance on recreational marijuana reads.
Marijuana remains listed by the federal government in the most severe class of drugs, alongside opiates and heroin. But the DEA has signaled it may move marijuana to a lower tier on the list, a process called rescheduling.
Moving to a new tier on the list wouldn’t make marijuana - or even medical marijuana - federally legal. It would open up options for researching the plant that may ultimately lead to legalization or decriminalization.
That prospect created confusion at Prineville City Hall when employees pointed out the language in the city’s ordinance left open questions about whether marijuana rescheduling would lead to recreational sales in the city.
The City Council gave its initial approval this week to clarify that, even if the DEA moves marijuana to a lower class of drugs on the Controlled Substances List, its ordinance banning recreational marijuana sales still applies.
The ban would only directly affect Anderson’s Plantae Health.
The Legislature in 2015 allowed local governments whose voters rejected Ballot Measure 91 by 55 percent or more to prohibit recreational sales. Lawmakers also gave medical dispensaries permission to begin selling to recreational users starting in October 2015 until Dec. 31, 2016, unless a city acted by Dec. 28, 2015, to ban the early sales.
Anderson asked councilors to allow him to operate outside the ordinance and sell recreational marijuana if his application with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission is approved.
After councilors rejected his request by approving the updated language on a first vote, Anderson decided he wouldn’t wait any longer and declared he plans to begin selling to all adults over 21 after the holiday weekend through the end of the year.
“I’ve always tried to work with the city,” Anderson said, noting he lost potential profit by waiting for city approval.
Anderson said the city’s ordinance doesn’t qualify as an early sales ban, and starting Tuesday he said users can pick up pot from Plantae in Prineville.
Officials from the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission could not be reached for comment about whether Prineville’s ordinance blocks early sales through December.
Stenbeck said he hadn’t received an application for recreational sales, and that the law is complicated.
But Anderson probably doesn’t need the city’s permission before he begins selling to adults temporarily.
The Oregon Health Authority keeps a running list of local governments across Oregon that have blocked early sales of recreational marijuana. Prineville isn’t on it.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Prineville Pot Shop Says It Will Sell To Recreational Users Tuesday
Author: Taylor W. Anderson
Contact: 541-382-1811
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: The Bulletin
But until the Drug Enforcement Administration decides it’s cool with pot, adults in the area who aren’t medical marijuana cardholders will have to get it elsewhere.
However, Andrew Anderson, the owner of the only medical marijuana dispensary in town, has his own message for Prineville residents and City Hall.
“You’re going to have recreational until the end of December,” Anderson said. “We’re starting July 5.”
After waiting months for the city to decide whether to allow Anderson’s store, Plantae Health, to sell recreational pot to adults 21 and older, city councilors tentatively voted this week to update an ordinance banning all recreational marijuana shops until the federal government legalizes marijuana, which is legal in Oregon and three other states but not at the federal level.
While Prineville in June 2015 passed an ordinance blocking businesses from selling pot to adults, a state law passed that same year allows medical marijuana shops to sell some of their products to consumers through Dec. 31, 2016.
Unlike 106 other cities and counties across Oregon, which banned recreational stores permanently or until voters pass a referendum, Prineville’s law says as soon as the federal agency that enforces drug policies changes its mind on pot, it will too.
“There’s a sense that maybe someday, marijuana will come off the DEA’s list,” said Phil Stenbeck, the city’s planning director. “We already put our code in place so when it becomes legal, the next day we’re ready.”
Amid ongoing consideration by the DEA to move marijuana to a lower tier on the Controlled Substances Act, it became clear Prineville’s law was confusing. So councilors this week voted to change the law and will consider final passage in mid-July.
“Because the federal government has classified marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, the City of Prineville does not want this Ordinance to go into effect until the classification of marijuana by the federal government has been reduced,” the city’s ordinance on recreational marijuana reads.
Marijuana remains listed by the federal government in the most severe class of drugs, alongside opiates and heroin. But the DEA has signaled it may move marijuana to a lower tier on the list, a process called rescheduling.
Moving to a new tier on the list wouldn’t make marijuana - or even medical marijuana - federally legal. It would open up options for researching the plant that may ultimately lead to legalization or decriminalization.
That prospect created confusion at Prineville City Hall when employees pointed out the language in the city’s ordinance left open questions about whether marijuana rescheduling would lead to recreational sales in the city.
The City Council gave its initial approval this week to clarify that, even if the DEA moves marijuana to a lower class of drugs on the Controlled Substances List, its ordinance banning recreational marijuana sales still applies.
The ban would only directly affect Anderson’s Plantae Health.
The Legislature in 2015 allowed local governments whose voters rejected Ballot Measure 91 by 55 percent or more to prohibit recreational sales. Lawmakers also gave medical dispensaries permission to begin selling to recreational users starting in October 2015 until Dec. 31, 2016, unless a city acted by Dec. 28, 2015, to ban the early sales.
Anderson asked councilors to allow him to operate outside the ordinance and sell recreational marijuana if his application with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission is approved.
After councilors rejected his request by approving the updated language on a first vote, Anderson decided he wouldn’t wait any longer and declared he plans to begin selling to all adults over 21 after the holiday weekend through the end of the year.
“I’ve always tried to work with the city,” Anderson said, noting he lost potential profit by waiting for city approval.
Anderson said the city’s ordinance doesn’t qualify as an early sales ban, and starting Tuesday he said users can pick up pot from Plantae in Prineville.
Officials from the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission could not be reached for comment about whether Prineville’s ordinance blocks early sales through December.
Stenbeck said he hadn’t received an application for recreational sales, and that the law is complicated.
But Anderson probably doesn’t need the city’s permission before he begins selling to adults temporarily.
The Oregon Health Authority keeps a running list of local governments across Oregon that have blocked early sales of recreational marijuana. Prineville isn’t on it.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Prineville Pot Shop Says It Will Sell To Recreational Users Tuesday
Author: Taylor W. Anderson
Contact: 541-382-1811
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: The Bulletin