Oregon
governor OKs early sales of recreational-use marijuana
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[July 30, 2015]
By Shelby Sebens
PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Oregon
residents will be able to buy marijuana for recreational use starting in
October, about a year earlier than originally expected, under a new law
backers hope will help curb the black market, state officials said on
Wednesday.
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The law, signed Monday by Democratic Governor Kate Brown, will
effectively let adults visit existing medical-use marijuana
dispensaries in the state to buy certain strains just to get stoned.
Possessing and growing pot became legal in July after voter approval
in a November referendum, and the state expects to start accepting
applications in January for recreational pot retail stores likely to
open by the fall.
"The bill ... passed with significant bipartisan support in both
chambers after a great deal of work by an implementation working
group," said Brown's spokeswoman Kristen Grainger.
In November, Oregon and Alaska sanctioned the use of marijuana for
recreational purposes in state-regulated schemes that will usher in
retail pot shops similar to those already operating in Washington
state and Colorado.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Jul/30/images/ads/current/pestcontrol_bch_fleas_061215.png) The votes reflect the shifting landscape for a substance that
remains illegal under federal law.
The new Oregon law lets adults 21 and up buy marijuana for
recreational use at medical dispensaries that choose to sell it
starting on Oct. 1, said state representative Ann Lininger, a
Democrat and sponsor of the bill.
Lininger said early sales will help begin to curb the black market
for weed.
State Senator Floyd Prozanski, a Democrat and another bill sponsor,
said the state will keep the medical and recreational marijuana
markets separate once the recreational shops are up and running.
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The law contains a provision that ends the sale of weed to
recreational users at medical dispensaries on Dec. 31, 2016.
The purchases will be tax-free until January 2016.
Dominic Corva, executive director of the Seattle-based Center for
the Study of Cannabis and Social Policy, said Oregon's short-term
fix is more radical than the regulated approach taken by Colorado.
"It starts legal sales without a seed-to-sale tracking system. It
gets people used to the idea that they can go and buy cannabis,"
Corva said.
(Reporting by Shelby Sebens in Portland, Oregon; Editing by Eric M.
Johnson and Eric Walsh)
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