- Illustration: Levi Hastings
TO GET A SENSE of just how insane the race over legal pot has become in recent weeks, start with an email.
On September 25, New Approach Oregon—the campaign pushing Measure 91, which would legalize recreational marijuana statewide—sent supporters a release with the subject line: "FEARSOME." In text that psychedelically shifts between different colors and fonts and levels of capitalization, New Approach campaign director Liz Kaufman described how the state's sheriffs—via a lobbying arm—had given the opposition $100,000.
"We need your help to battle back against that fearsome donation," the release blared. "Donate now so we can keep pace!"
Kaufman made no mention of a more staid message her campaign had sent out a little more than a month earlier, touting its own financial news: New Approach had just bought $2.3 million in TV advertising, the "largest ad buy so far for 2014 Oregon ballot measures."
In fact, New Approach attracted more than $1.5 million over the course of its campaign, according to its most recent filings, with enormous donations from out-of-state contributors accounting for the vast majority. That's an amount the "No on 91" people, backed chiefly by state law enforcement officials, can't hope to match.
So why the many-hued SOS to supporters? It's partly because a new person is coordinating the campaign's email blasts, Kaufman says. But also: The fight for your pot allegiance is extremely tight.
