Oregonians will decide this fall whether to legalize the medical use of marijuana under a physician’s supervision. State election officials announced Friday that petitioners Oregonians for Medical Rights qualified their medical-use proposal for the November ballot.
“The federal government’s failure to act on the medical marijuana issue leaves proponents no choice but to bring this question straight to the voters,” NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup said.
The Oregon initiative seeks to allow patients suffering from a “debilitating medical condition” and holding a state-issued identification card to legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana. Registered patients would also be able to cultivate marijuana for medical use. Cultivation limits allow patients to grow no more than three mature plants at any one time. The initiative also permits non-registered patients to raise the “affirmative defense of medical necessity” if they face state criminal marijuana charges.
“This is a tightly worded initiative designed to benefit seriously ill patients using marijuana under a doctor’s supervision,” Stroup said.
Oregonians will also vote this year on whether to accept or reject the Legislature’s decision to recriminalize the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for recreational use. Oregon became the first state to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana in 1973. Last year, the Legislature decided to increase the penalty for simple marijuana possession from a noncriminal “violation” to a class C misdemeanor punishable by 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Petitioners Citizens for Sensible Law Enforcement collected sufficient signatures to freeze the new law and refer the measure to this year’s November ballot.
For more information, please contact either Keith Stroup of NORML @ (202) 483-5500 or Geoff Sugerman of Oregonians for Medical Rights @ (503) 873-7927. Citizens for Responsible Law Enforcement may be reached @ (503) 239-0575.
