A new statewide poll, just released by SurveyUSA, shows many Oregonians still undecided on this fall’s ballot initiative that would legalize and regulate cannabis, Measure 80. In a survey of 633 registered voters, 37% said they were definitely voting yes on the measure, 41% said they were definitely voting no, and 22% remain undecided. Unlike the other two initiatives in Colorado and Washington, which are showing strong leads, many voters seem to have not made up their minds yet about the Oregon initiative.
If you live in Oregon you can learn more about Measure 80 by visiting the campaign’s website here. You can also learn more ways to help pass marijuana legalization in Oregon this fall by visiting the website for pro-Measure 80 PAC, Oregonians for Law Reform here.
Be sure to check out NORML’s 2012 voter guide, Smoke the Vote, here and find out all the ways cannabis comes into play in this fall’s election. Get informed, get educated, spread the word, and help us smoke the vote in November.
if you vote for Romney, you can expect any and all marijuana legalization efforts to be DESTROYED by DEA and FBI with increased federal aid by Romney
There are many things that are bad for you that are illegal. Why do people have such a problem with pot legal? Do they think we’ll start murdering people or something? WE ARE JUST TRYING TO FEEL GOOD. Not depressed, not morbid but good. Happiness? Even love! Vote to get freedoms.
The only reason a place like oregon would vote no is because of growers wanting to make their money. Well I got something to say to those growers…. when the law comes knocking at your door their gonna take your house away, your kids and I doubt your pretty wife is gonna be messing with you after youve gotten ten years of probation and your bank acount is subsidized due to pot taxes. Just keep laughing away and counting your money. You think your clever and its all good until theres a bang at the door followed by “Search Warrant” then you can’t do sh*. Might as well start thinking about the trash can your gonna eat out of. Give a state where there isn’t all this industry and you’ll have everyone voting yes.
Shoe program homeboy!!!
Wow, we only need to convert 3 out of 5 undecided voters to win legalization in the first state to ever decriminalize, the second to ever medicalize, and one of the top pot-smoking states in the nation. Gee, I wonder why this is so difficult?
My Mother lives in Oregon. She is 67 and her pat response is that “people don’t always drink to get drunk, but they always smoke to get high..”
My response is always something like, “well hell, let’s just lock them up and throw away the key then…wouldn’t want anyone to feel good.”
Anyone have anything more convincing?
As an Oregonian I can say not much is being said here about the measure. I don’t see any ads on TV or hear any on the radio. None show up in the papers. No one really seems to care.
To tell you the truth I am rather surprised given how strongly the pro-pot forces have been in Washington and Colorado, two states that are politically close to Oregon.
The last measure was a poor one so it got shot down by both sides. The hangover from the last election might be carrying over to 2012.
Oh yeah and one more thing to the growers… people got this impression that if your just selling pot that the goverment isn’t concerned. Think again buddy because if your funelling american currency you ain’t no better then a bank robber. Sure jo jo who gets a nickel bag off ya gets a slap on the wrist but he ain’t touchin the money. Its when currency gets involved you unlock a whole new level of sh*. that they are mercyless about
If I was among the 22%, 1 would vote “yes” just to be against the 41% from threatening me of my freedom and my rights.
This is a bad law. It would give the state a monopoly on the cannabis market. We need to work on privatizing the liquor industry, as Washington did, not socializing the cannabis industry, which the Federal government will never allow anyway. We already have some of the most permissive cannabis laws in the world here, let’s not ruin a good thing just so Paul Stanford can steal this industry from the people who built it.
John stfu
I do not see how Oregon political culture is going to approve of a for profit government institution like what the OCTA sets up. Furthermore,the retail outlets will be wholly owned by the state.
Not only does OCTA set up a for profit government institution that will own and fully control retail outlets, but it also mandates that agency to promote Cannabis products. Think of the Oregon Lottery.
I don’t really care, just sayin. Ill vote for it but I wont push it because I know that people don’t like those sorts of things around here.
@john w
“The only reason a place like oregon would vote no is because of growers wanting to make their money.”
Sadly, that’s correct. When I was helping get petitions to put this Oregon Law on the ballot, a looot of people told me “no” because “then I’d be broke!”
For anon: John is speaking the truth. Obviously he got under your skin. The fact is I refuse to smoke weed in the US until it is legalized and I can buy it at a safe place just like people can by cigarettes and booze from safe places. I refuse to support the nefarious black marketeers who think I should go to jail for weed so they can make a profit, those psychopaths! And no Anon, I will not STFU and neither should John.
Just have to say,
For LEGAL growers, there is simply not enough information about how it would affect us. While the idea of finally getting paid for our LABOR is appealing, there are NO set guidelines in the bill.
“The commission shall issue to any qualified applicant a license to cultivate cannabis for sale to the commission. The license shall specify the areas, plots, and extent of lands to be cultivated. The commission shall equitably apportion the purchase of cannabis among all licensees. The commission shall purchase and sell cannabis products of the quality and grade set by market demand.”
Ummm… What?
First – Who is a ‘qualified applicant’? Do I need a college degree? Or do I just need to pay an exorbitant license fee? Who is determining this and HOW are they determining what makes one ‘qualified’?
And hey – is there a limit on ‘qualified applicants’?
“The license shall specify the areas, etc.”
Does that mean if I currently grow in my own home they could say I can’t?
“The commission shall equitably apportion the purchase of cannabis among all licensees.”
This sort of makes sense so that they can’t just buy from one super grower, but the insanity of figuring out how much you can or cannot buy from all ‘qualified applicants’…
“The commission shall purchase and sell cannabis products of the quality and grade set by market demand.”
Well, just how does that work?
I am all for legalizing marijuana & hemp, but we need to get it right and clarify these vagaries. Right now, all I see is the State taking control of a cash cow with no idea who is to take care of it, what it should eat, how it should be harvested, properly cured, and finally sent to market.
IMHO, The emphasis is on the hemp and the MJ is just being tacked on without nearly enough explanation on just how they plan to regulate it.
Will there be a unilateral brand of nutrients, Veg time, Flower time, Dry & Cure Time? Despite the fact the different plants need different things and times to mature?
I don’t know and neither does anyone from the body of this bill. Until they really get it together and answer these very basic questions, the least of which is what constitutes a ‘qualified applicant’, I personally have to vote NO.
Get it right and stop wasting everyone’s time.
Sure as a LEGAL grower I want to get paid for my work (and I know I am in the minority of growers who aren’t trying to rip people off). But 2 years ago, when you could still go to the window at the State Offices, a woman ahead of me was vociferously complaining about having to pay for it AT ALL. Apparently, we growers are just supposed to pay for all equipment, nutrients, losses from theft, bugs, fires, etc. and just hand over our product.
So YEAH, I want to get paid for honest work. I want to get paid what it is worth, and not some ridiculous amount of money, because I want my friends, family, and hey, even total strangers who are suffering from things that can be alleviated by marijuana to be able to afford it! Right now the ‘dispensaries’ or whatever are getting ‘reimbursed’ for $8 – $11 per GRAM. That is $3600 – $4950 per pound.
It should be about HALF that amount, so that a Quarter of an Ounce would be about $40, on the high end. (So to speak..Har har.)
Anyway, enough of my rant. I know most growers are greedy bastards, both legal and illegal. But just so you know, some of us aren’t and would love to make this a full time job for a decent wage without the constant fear and stigma we face every single day.
Cheers,
Green Girl
The 22% undecided need to get the stick out of there A** and make a decision I dont understand people can they not so the benefit and facts backing decriminalization???
Tlc… tell her they don’t always get drunk, but nonetheless alcohol kills about 4,600 kids (21 and younger) every year or about 1 every 2 hours in the U.S. Altogether alcohol CONSUMPTION kills about 85,000 people in the U.S. every year… marijuana: zero.
Maybe you could start off by saying “they don’t always get drunk but many times they get dead”.
Green Girl: You will never get a dime from me. If you want to make a profit, move to Malaysia or Singapore. With their horrific drug laws, the dealers must be making a mint. Why don’t you and the other sleazoid growers and dealers join them? Hey what’s the worst that could happen, right?
My understanding is that this bill will regulate cannabis like alcohol. Meaning, if you’re over 21, you can’t get busted by the state period. Growing, possession, using, whatever. Why should it be legal? It’s a natural tree. The government has no right to make this illegal in the first place, it’s absurd. Maybe I just like the smell, or the look of the plant, maybe I want to use it for it’s nutritional values, maybe I just want to smoke it, ultimately it’s none of the damn governments business.
Unfortunately Oregan has not advertised this measure nearly enough. I’ve met fellow smokers who haven’t even heard about this measure. There will always be money to be made from growing cannabis, growers shouldn’t fear legality. Alcohol is legal, you can make your own at home, but people go to bars and stores to buy their favorite drinks. Cannabis will be no different. People will want to try different strains and flavors and other products. There would be smoking clubs that would open up similar to the booming microbrew industry. This is a good measure, everyone should support. You shouldn’t have to go see a doctor to get a prescription or put your name on a list for the government to have just to smoke cannabis. It’s your god given right to grow trees and consume how you see fit.
Unfortunately the campaign behind the measure isn’t being funded at the moment, hence the lack of advertising and state’s knowledge. Right now, the head campaigner, Paul Stanford, is paying what advertising there is out of his own back wallet. Which, after all of the funding of OCTA to get this on the ballot + Hempstalk, isn’t much.
Donations would be awesome, so that more Oregonians can find out about this measure. 🙂 As well as word of mouth.
I think Colorado and California are the most pot friendly states. There are no pot dispensaries like those states, and possesion of over an oz. is a felony. Still growers and dealers usually don’t get anything like the full extent of the law.
This measure will probably fail just as the similar measure that was defeated recently in CA.
And JJ, these measures are defeated by the voters not the dea or fbi.
I would vote for it. But it is just a symbolic law. Oregon wont be able to regulate and tax pot when it’s illegal under federal law.
Fuck the Government We ought 2 all just plant seeds everywhere
It doesnt matter who you vote for because our govt is bought and the real people who run our country are lobbiest and corporations and a President is just a lobbiest for corporate america. Legalizing marijuana will cut out billions of profits for corporations so the continue to spead the lie. Greedy pieces of shit. Then you have the hipocrits who want to grow and sell their weed but because they are greedy pieces of shit, they vote no because they think that keeping marijuana illeagal will keep the profit in their pocket. Greed, Lust, jealousy, corruption rules the world.
Amen to the statement above. Wtf happened to Ron Paul? I’m in Louisiana this is a plant that’s worse side effects are sleep and the munches paranoia is only from fear of getting caught. As long as there are whole rows dedicated to beer and liquor in the grocery stores, gas stations , I will take a stand risking my own freedom. Wtf makes the Gov have the right to make a seed and a plant illgal ??? I would gladly move to Cali where it’s so cool and hip to toke but I can’t afford it. Corruption , Greed, I never belived in God before I grew my first plant of cannabis but seeing that beautiful plant blossom into a tree bearing its positive fruit made me a beliver The Creator put Cannabis here for us to grow and enjoy. Unite be peaceful. But when WE THE PEOPLE decide its time to legalize Gods gift that helps with so many ailments and even fights cancer you heard right kids Scientificly proven and allow Alcholics to beat wives, run over kids, overdose ect.. Enough is enough we have to fight back fear is a tool they use to command us and Im not scared anymore everyone plant a seed watch it grow it’s a miracle infact the only miracle nature gives us. Right to pursue happiness!! 420
John W… it sounds like someone is a little bit jealous. It is not right for you to wish that anyone loses their wife, their children, or their house. Those growers are not wishing you ill, so by my math, that makes you the bad guy. Just because I choose to farm cannabis, that does not make me a bad person. There are plenty of growers out there who are greedy, arrogant criminals. However, you will find people like that in every industry. Don’t let a few bad apples spoil the bunch.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, I am voting “YES” on measure 80… because I would gladly sacrafice some profit for the peace of mind of being legal.
Okay… I just realized you were specifically referring to the growers who want to keep cannabis illegal, thus wishing for others to continue getting arrested, simply to preserve their own profit. I agree with you. I’m a bit baked and misread your post. Carry on 🙂
As much as I would love to see cannabis legalized here I doubt it’s going to pass 🙁
I think I wrote a pretty good article on this on my blog if anyone wants to read it. But there are two main reasons I can see it not being legalized. First off, those who profit from it being a black market item obviously will vote no. A lb of pot can sell between 1500-2500, and if everyone could go to the store and buy it legally those prices would drop, at least for those who manufacture it (I’m going to assume stores will still sell it for normal price because people will pay for it, basic economics). So dealers and growers will all vote no, because of the huge loss in profits. Then you have concerned parents, the next largest group, who don’t want their children exposed to drugs. There is little to do about this group, as you can feed them all the facts in the world and they will stubbornly ignore it and vote no regardless. But the most important group is those who are still undecided, as with any election or vote (if you follow the news you can see this battle being conducted by our president and the republican candidate). Those are the ones who are open to suggestion. As the people who are pushing this measure are low on funding, it is almost impossible to spread the word about the potential uses and benefits from this, whereas the federal government has nearly unlimited funds to spread misinformation about it. So it is up to us to talk to our friends and family about this, and make sure we are giving accurate and complete information on the topic. I know it is hard for some people to ‘come out of the closet’ about their usage however this word of mouth method is really our only option at this point.
Agree with folks above, the illegal growers do not want this to pass at all AND Paul Stanford is funding it – rather the Hempstalk Festival is funding it and true fact, most of the funds went into getting it on the ballot. There is very little money left to promote it with TV ads or newspapers etc. That is why we are not seeing much about it and sadly, it will probably be defeated. The general public just does not understand how harmless and how valuable as a medicine it really is. They are still listening to the same old hype. Until we can really get the word out, bills like this do not have a chance in my opinion. I am a patient but no one should go to jail for this very benign substance.
@JJ – Yes, you are absolutely correct, and if you vote for Obama you will get exactly the same thing.
Obama and Holder are the problem!
Mitt must be pressured on the issue as being a states rights issue!
Fast and Furious smuggled 6,000 hand grenades into Mexico to knock off one cartel in favor of the other! Vote for Mitt he has not committed any drug war crime yet!