Despite trailing in the polls for most of the previous months, Oregon advocates and reformers were able to close the support gap for their marijuana legalization initiative to a respectable 45% in favor and 55% opposed (with 55% of the vote counted). Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to push Measure 80 over the top.
What this effort did, however, was elevate the discourse in regards to marijuana legalization in Oregon and set the stage for future efforts. We would like to thank all of those who dedicated countless hours into supporting this reform effort in Oregon and will be following up in regards to the future of marijuana law reform in the state.
What all the votes been counted?
Sorry for the near miss, Oregon. Don’t worry, brothers and sisters, your day will be coming soon!
Will there be an exodus to Washington ? Portland is only just over the state line with a simple river crossing to Washington sate. Force majeure may prevail then will Portland be like Chicago in the 1920s ?
British Columbia (Especially Vancouver) in Canada is in a similar situation. Lots and lots of questions – now it gets interesting !
right, but Colorado and Washington.
Yes or Know.!!!!!!?????
Sure, Colorado and Washington news is great, but 45-55 isn’t a “respectable” loss. 10 points is, by all definitions, a landslide.
noooooooooooo. someway some how we need to open peoples eyes and show them marijuana is not harmful in any way. We as a nation need to step back and rethink tobacco and alcohol laws if we fear marijuana over the more dangerous drugs like food and video games.
Coloradoa dn Washington are yes
fuck you oregon… lets drink ourselves to death and smoke cigs till we get cancer, no pot though, its way to bad for you… bunch of fucking idiots…
Life is full of surprises, I am an old man and I never expected to see Cannabis legalized in any state. I am glad that Colorado and Washington State have done so. Now the money won’t flow to Mexico and the cartels there. This action by the Voters is a step forward to end the idiotic “Drug War” which has done more harm than good. Smoke it on weekends and don’t drive a car or operated any other dangerous machinery. I never thought I would live to see this event!
Oregon, C’mon. I thought you were smarter than this? I guess you need just a few more old alchoholics to die off.
Hopefully they will get on the bandwagon when the tax stats start coming in from Washington and Colorado.
For now I will be doing my out of state skiing in Colorado. Screw you Mt. Bachelor. Rednecks.
Part of the problem is that supporters try to talk about how weed is not harmful AT ALL, which is BS, inhaling any kind of smoke in to your lungs can be harmful, and I know plenty of my pot head family members whose lack of motivation to do anything productive with their lives is certainly not helped by smoking blunts all day. Supporters need to focus on the fact that it doesn’t matter if it is harmful, just like alcohol and tobacco, if people want to use it they are going to, so they might as well pay taxes on it. Need to focus on the dollars and cents and not all the hippy garbage that normal people who dont wake and bake won’t listen to. you have to have a message that opponents will listen to, not that supporters can get excited about.
Part of the reason Oregon didn’t approve this was because it set up state-run pot stores, so our huge network of family farms and small scale distributors already operating would have still been illegal. It was a fail in the polls because it didn’t adequately address the ways marijuana is already woven into our economy. Oregonians like small business, not buying our weed form The Man. Yeah I want to get stoned legally, but I want the full measure of marijuana’s benefit to society as well, including it being part of a sound long term restructuring of our economy to focus on peole over profits.
“Despite trailing in the polls for most of the previous months, Oregon advocates and reformers were able to close the support gap for their marijuana legalization initiative to a respectable 45% in favor and 55% opposed (with 55% of the vote counted).”
:So if this observation is gramaticaly correct in it’s structure, is it not plausible that there may be a little suprize come final tally? Simple math tells us that 55% of .55% is 30.25% So thier assumption is based on a little over one third of the vote having been counted as nay’s … what about that other 45% that are yet to be tallied? or do you think they to quit countimg at a certain Numer like the MSM did in the presidential race??? It would at the time of posting still potentially be posible to be overcome % Wise as only a tad over half are counted. this means potentially a 69.75 in favor, or MAJORITY and pass… So, Let’s sll be a tad bit patient
well if you look at how the counties in oregon voted this time we are apparently mostly conservative with a few densely populated liberal counties centered around portland and eugene
The dam has been cracked. I live in Eugene, OR. It’s nothing for me to take a trip to Portland (2-hours) and over the border to Washington state, buy an ounce and come home again. This is a historic day! the folks in Idaho, Oregon and California will go to Washington state to purchase their herb and those states will fold to the people’s will. When they see the tax dollars start rolling in, a 50% drop in arrests for somebody with a joint in their sock and the neutering of the Mexican cartels, they’ll join in. A shard of sanity has permeated the madness that has clouded us for 50 years! Congratulations Washington state and Colorado! Let’s hope the feds concentrate their efforts on real criminals and leave us alone. Me? I’m going to go and spark a bowl in celebration.
Overall, it is good this one of the three failed. Like some have mentioned, it needs to be setup in a better way. And it with two states going ahead with better schemes, Oregon has time to come up with an improved cannabis law and will still have plenty of support to get it passed.
OCTA was unlikely to pass due to its structure. It set up too much government involvement. Notice that the Washington and Colorado laws do not set up the state as the sole distributor like Oregon’s does. Oregon is a conservative state and the republican support for legalization is around 50% but they only supported this law by 25% or so. They have things that are more important to them than social justice. They are government hating greedy bastards. If Oregon wants legal drugs, you have to appeal to the their market conceptions.
Bongstar420, I have to say “government hating greedy bastards” sound like the kind of folk who already know a thing or two about social justice… But anyways, what is bad about keeping bureaucrats out of managing every little thing about marijuana??? Seems smart to me, not really greedy per say. Private enterprises should not be cut out of being able to be on the supply side of the market.
I understand that there were things written into Measure 80 that turned off the folks who ended up sending a lot of funding into the other two ststes. What did they do right and us wrong and how do we fix it?
Independent Americans living the American dream; this is not for government to control. Oregon Girl has it right! People have the right to prosper in an industry that has long been supported by the people, for the people and of the people. Amen to Colorado and Washington :>)
No Oregon Girl and all the other Stoners against legalization have it wrong by allying with drug warrior thugs to continue the criminalization of mj. Why would I buy from such people like Oregon girl and her so called family farm friends who want me jailed for weed?
next question is, if the fed’s challenge the state, what organizations are going to represent the state to fight the feds?
things did not go well with obama on the last go around. obama stated he would respect state rights in regard to med marijuana yet went after the industry after securing the med marijuana vote.
are we prepared this time to defend the rights/votes of the american public?
Why liquor sales ? They are opposites . One kills the other doesn’t . One creates agression, the other doesn’t . One creates violence the other doesn’t and so on……
The Congress that lifts hemp prohibition will preside over the greatest boon to American Manufacturing since the Industrial Revolution…Why has no one mentioned that to the powers that be? a jobs program that will pay for itself…doh
“Smoking anything is bad for your lungs” then where are all the cases of head neck and mouth cancer from all that dangerious damaging pot?? None existant.. Where are the cases of decreased lung function?? NON EXISTANT. Go back to your propaganda vill this isnt the place for you
Anyone reading the acctual law proposed must vote against this rediculas proposal. Decriminalize first. Then tax, license, and regulate. Keep the government out of what should be private enterprise. Do you really think a government employee who doesn’t even use the medicine has a clue how it should be used?
I’d be interested in seeing if there are any exit-polls from Oregon to discuss WHY this was voted down. Oregon has historically been a pretty progressive state, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to get some form of marijuana reform legislation passed.
Oregon Girl makes it pretty clear that SHE voted against it only because the new law wouldn’t have continued to allow HER to make a profit, instead, turning sales over to the existing network of existing Liquor Stores. Pretty self-centered reason, and certainly not what’s best for all. Was the lack of a DUI provision the main reason? I’m interested in knowing why, so that hopefully the organizers can make another bid in a near-future vote.
Please sign the White House petition to let Marc Emery complete his sentence in Canada
http://wh.gov/XXp9
They’re probably shady about it because Oregon is the Crystal Meth capital. They’re jaded or something.
Maybe, not very many advertisement used for the oregon’s mj legalisation vote campaign!?