ORTLAND, Ore. – As marijuana legalization efforts in Colorado and Washington pick up steam, a similar push in Oregon seems to be going up in smoke.
More than $4 million has flowed to Washington and close to a million in Colorado.
Yet in Oregon — a state with one of the nation’s highest rates of pot use and a reputation for pushing the boundaries on marijuana laws — organizers are looking at a bank account with just $1,800.
Marijuana activists who have ploughed big bucks into campaigns in the other two states complain the Oregon measure is poorly written and doesn’t poll well. It didn’t qualify for the ballot until July, severely limiting the time available to sway voters.
They also don’t care for the man with a blemished record who’s pushing Oregon’s measure.
“That’s just the hard, cold reality,” said Allen St. Pierre, director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. “They simply do not trust and will not work with the locals there.”
Paul Stanford, the 51-year-old chief petitioner behind the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, dismissed criticism and said the Legislature can clean up any issues with the law after it passes. Read more …