Legislation has been introduced in Oregon by the House Committee on Revenue that would legalize and regulate the adult use of marijuana.
House Bill 3371 would establish a regulatory system, similar to the one in place in the state for alcohol, for the cultivation, production, and sale of cannabis to adults over 21. Adults would be allowed to possess up to 24 ounces of usable marijuana and grow up to six plants in their homes, in addition to purchasing it from regulated retail outlets. You can read the full text of the legislation here.
If you needed any further proof that elections have consequences, we now have a total of seven legalization bills pending in state legislatures, whereas we rarely had even one in previous years. The voters in Colorado and Washington set the ball of legalization rolling down hill and it seems unlikely to slow down anytime soon.
If you live in Oregon, please click here to quickly and easily contact your elected officials in support of this legislation. If you don’t live in Oregon, click here and see if there is any pending marijuana law reform legislation in your state.
OREGON: CLICK HERE TO CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IN SUPPORT OF HOUSE BILL 3371
In November 2012, two states legalized marijuana. Help us win the rest. Consider making a donation to support NORML’s advocacy work today.
Dude, you sound like a total greed head. What of the innocent people incarcerated? What of the sick, suffering needlessly? What of all the lives wasted, money wasted, tax dollars wasted on courts and jails for all of these people? What of their ruined lives, with the ridiculous brand as a felon for an ounce bag of weed? Is correcting all of that in the interest of government?
I certainly believe that it is.
“..as an economist I believe this bill is doomed. The main incentive for local governments to legalize marijuana is to collect tax revenue. The bill states that adults are allowed to grow up to six plants in their homes. In allowing adults to do so, this eliminates a portion of the market from purchasing the good and reduces tax revenue for state. Also, the federal governments primary concern is “leakage” from states legalizing marijuana. Allowing adults to grow their own product will only add to the federal governments concern of “leakage” due to the inibilty for the state to regulate the industry. “
mark 7:15-23
mark 12:31
Love your neighbor people.
That is sad many folks are not in here promoting this necessary piece of legislation. Find your Oregon state reps and contact them.
http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/
I also would like to thank NORML for giving us this forum for exchanging information about the important issues. The best way to show your appreciation is to become a member. This site needs money to stay alive and how much great information how all of you gleaned from it? Become a member, continue to spread facts, and together let’s end prohibition state by state.
This is a suspect answer from my state rep. It reads to me like he is not in favor of regulation&taxation.
Your thoughts?
Dear Nathaniel,
Thank you for writing to my office about House Bill 3371, to tax, regulate, and legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults. This bill has been introduced by the Revenue committee, and has been referred to the House Judiciary committee with a subsequent referral to the Revenue committee.
It is clear to me that our current policy of marijuana prohibition is flawed, and evidence suggests we need to rethink our approach on this subject. The tremendous financial cost of maintaining this policy has far outweighed any gains made, and its enforcement has disproportionately harmed many low-income and minority communities.
Some have proposed that our state could regulate marijuana in much the same way that we regulate alcohol. A strong regulatory framework could allow for legal production, distribution, sale, taxation, and use of marijuana for adult recreational use, while also providing strict oversight to prohibit use by minors. Revenue from taxes could help to fund treatment services for those struggling with addiction, and law enforcement agencies could focus their energy on preventing more serious, violent crimes.
The proposed solution in this bill would require some refining in order to be effectual and ultimately may not be the best way to address this problem. I will be sure to take your thoughts on this matter into careful consideration should this bill come before me for a vote.
If you wish to track the progress of this bill, you can type in the bill number at this Web address http://www.leg.state.or.us/searchmeas.html and it will pull up the bill and all related actions.
Again, thank you for your email. Please do not hesitate to contact my office if either my staff or I can be of assistance in the future.
Respectfully,
Paul
Paul Holvey
Oregon State Representative
District 8 – Eugene / Veneta
Capitol Office:
Oregon State Capitol
900 Court Street NE, H-277
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1408
Email: rep.paulholvey@state.or.us
Nathaniel, it sounds like he is very much in favor of it, but feels this law needs some work.
However, he doesn’t mention what needs work and it seems pretty darn comprehensive to me, so I’m not sure what the “issues” he has with it, if any, might be…?
I think he leaves it open ended like this so people can feel more comfortable expressing their opinions to him. So everyone should contact him (Paul Holvey) and his co-workers and tell them to support this bill.
Vote for the bill, Paul!
Stop incarcerating people for a mild sedative growing plant.
Gawd.
It does seem like a bit much to ask employers to tolerate stoned employees; and I’m all for legalization. I do like that the bit about refusing to hire users is prohibited; but while many people can use it on their own time and not let it interfere at work, I do believe it can interfere at many workplaces.
My suggestion is this: If you have representatives and/or senators who are not supporting this, don’t get mad. Get them on the record as to if they support the basic idea, and what they don’t like about this measure, of they don’t support it. You can use this as an opportunity to educate them about surveys in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Lancet finding no correlation between pot use and cancer; and pointing out how much less of a risk on driving it is vs. alcohol for people to be spending their money on. Also, if it is a gateway drug, it is also a “way out of hard drugs” drug; and legalization will take serious $$$ out of organized crime, and overcrowded prisons. Then, when a similar law comes up, minus one or two problematic phrases, be sure to remind representatives etc. of their previous statements of support for the measure.
Any mis-use of weed would or should fall under the same perameters as alcohol or any other controlled substance. If someone drives, work or otherwise take part in an activity where the substance would interfere with safety then by all means bust the prick. The majority of users, like myself, will stay and play at home while they feel good. And snack. Time to come out of the dark ages. The State could use the revenue.
The problem is that these legislators are approaching the problem as wrongly as one can. I find it hard to believe that anything would be worse than the current laws. As the saying goes, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Try something. If it doesn’t work, then improve it. But don’t let an unmitigated disaster continue because you can’t find the perfect solution. That’s just stupid. States need to experiment with policies to figure to what works and what doesn’t.
4/2/13 Public Hearing and Possible Work Session scheduled. Now that is real progress. I am kind of jumping out of my seat a bit just writing this =) We have a real shot to turn the tide here and make leaps and bounds against this ridiculous fight against a plant.
Freedom isn’t free, it cost folks like you and me, and if you don’t throw in your buck’0’five who will?
I have put in my buck’0’five…have you? Write your reps today and support this bill.
OREGON ALERT: The House Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on April 2. The committee did not issue a recommendation on the measure, but sent HB 3371 to the House Revenue Committee for further consideration. Committee Chairman Representative Jeff Barker stated, “This bill is going to be moved to Revenue, where it’ll have the substantial policy debate. There’s no sense having everybody spend all day today or longer here talking about it when it’ll actually be dealt with down there.”
It is imperative that your Representative hears from you in support of this measure, particularly the members of the House Revenue Committee. Click here to quickly and easily contact your elected officials and to get the direct contact info for members of the Revenue Committee.
http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/51046//p/dia/action3/common/public/index.sjs?action_KEY=9854
What will happen to all those people who are card holding growers? They depend on the sale of their crops. Will the government then tax them, so that good growers that you know and trust, who grow excellent marijuana, will be so taxed that it won’t be viable for them to grow any longer? That’s my concern.
I for one have been smoking marijuana for over 50 years. I was arrested once in Boise Id in 1970. I’m sure the us government has done studies on how to legalize and tax. They were probably told by tax people and so called experts that taxing would be very difficult due too private growing. Control would be a lot harder then tobacco and alcohol. These facts along with the DEA’s huge lobby against legalization due to losing a load of funding if the weed was legal makes Governmental approval almost impossible. We have to find a way the feds can tax it easily without everybody going crazy on grow your own mode if it was legal. If the Feds can get their share it would easily pass muster.
I have no issue with marijuana being legalized as long as it is taxed the same as alcohol and tabacco. fair is fair and marijuana is a recreational thing so it should be taxed.
I truely believe that billions of dollars are wasted trying to erradicate something they can never erradicate so why not turn it into a positive.
I believe the pro marijuana people have made a grave mistake in oregon thru the years by not seeing the the big picture and if they would introduce a measure that was acceptable to the masses then marijuana would be legalized here in this state.
I believe if marijuana supporters would introduce a measure that made it legal and taxed with a guarenteed 70% of the tax earmarked for K thru 12 schools the tax payers of this state would welcome it.
the liquor controll commision could oversee its controll and make sure taxes are collected and dispersed to the proper places.
they could make it so that if you want to grow your own that you can buy a permit per plant that has the tax built into the cost of the plant, then also have retailers that sell to the general public the same way they do with liquor stores. they also must have severe penalties for those that do not adhere to the law and pay taxes and permit fee’s
I believe that marijuana supporters do this and it will work for everyone in this state and a measure will fly right thru
I know a lot of marijuana supporters will scream bloody murder about this post but fair is fair and we all know the medical marijuana system we have now does not work, there is more marijuana on the market for non car holders then there ever was and the reason behind that is because the amount each card holder is allowed to grow far exceded what they could possibly smoke in a year and the growers keep the excess and then it makes it to the streets. we now have professional growers that are making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in untaxed money if we end this abuse and make a measure that is fair to every side in this delima then I believe the whole state will profit from it, after all what is most imoprtant to the people of this state is school funding and tax relief.
if marijuana supporters would offer what I mentioned above I would be willing to bet it would pass in flying colors
at the tax rate [proposed is a joke and thats one main reson it wont produce but a short term money grab.1st 35.00 a oz tax is 560 a lb.well if u can get 800-1000 $ lbs.now…then the dispencery has to sell 2600-3600 $ lbs. L.O.l.so yes ur other post is correct.a trickle tax,better than none at all,but the numbers are a joke still 6 plants ,outside get you ez 30 lbs.ups ur over again ,so now i get to sell it to my buddies for a third of what dispenseries charge,hence ,grey market stays.
are you nuts janet? yes they should be taxed the money they sell that for is income and I do not know a single person in this country that isnt dependant on their income. why should dope growers be special and exempt from taxes? I dont care if its medical or not they sell it for way more then it could ever cost to grow so they make a profit you can not lie good enough to convince me it costs $1000 a lb to grow pot it just isnt reality
I attempted to click on the areas where I could go to contact my public official and it does NOT allow you to go to there from the article.
joke!cost of growing !ez 1k per /plant,and thats if u grow on ommah land.and that does not include any other costs. #1 if u got to babysit ur garden all season 6 mo. lets say. well then ,I want to be paid like a senator ,6 mo. o 90k. AND ITL COST U 60 K TO GROW ON SOMEONES LAND ,NUMBERS CAN not run xactly for every grower cost will be differernt,Write offs.when tobacco says OK then itl be legal .END PROHIBITION IN USA
As a Grower all the numbers being tossed around at random are just that random and based on guesswork and speculation.
I would love to pay a reasonable tax to test and LEGALY sell and safely distribute not just raw marijuana but Oils, Concentrates and edibles to responsible adults and even pay Fed income tax on the whole thing But I feel as well as funding schools a portion of the tax should fund law enforcement who can then focus on Meth, Heroin and the drugs that hurt people and communities. As for the numbers, Fair is Fair let the market set the price just like wine, beer or Tabaco.
Oregon must not be left behind. Freedom to the people to deside for themselves. Alcohol kills more people and destroys more lives than all the gun violence in this country. Yet is is legal. Weed helps people live pain free lives and saves lives. Whats wrong with this picture?
You know, I can barely afford to buy my medication now, if it gets “legalized” it will be so expensive, I will have to go back to the crappy chemical pharmaceuticals from my doc, and I won’t ever be able to grow again when I do have a place to do it. What a bunch of crap.
[Editor’s note: OK…let’s keep cannabis illegal, arresting almost three quarters of a million of your fellow cannabis consumers annually, let’s keep drug testing, taking kids away, civil forfeiture and making medical patients have to pay annually to register with the state to use one specific drug (does a patient who needs percocet, valium, ketamine or oxycontin have to pay $100-$200 to enter a special govt dbase and get an ID?? But this is ‘OK’ for medical cannabis patients?).
Yah, let’s keep the status quo in place–maybe another 75 years of cannabis prohibition–because you’re afraid ahead of the fact that you (a medical patient) might pay more for legal than illegal cannabis.
Yep…let’s do that.
Not.]
The government is NEVER going to let people grow their own at home when they can grow and regulate and make money off of everything. What a “pipe dream”.
[Editor’s note: Please don’t come to this webpage looking to spread B.S. 1) Citizens in CO can cultivate their own cannabis, 2) patients in WA can cultivate their own cannabis, 3) no govt in the US is looking to cultivate and sell cannabis (cannabis has always been cultivated and sold by private citizens and corporations looking to make a profit…the same thing is happening under legalization.)]