VOLUNTEERS AND PAID signature gatherers have roamed the streets all spring with petitions for November ballot measures, racing to gather between 82,000 and 110,000 signatures before the deadline on Friday, July 2. This year’s crop of citizen-initiated laws could change the way the state regulates gambling, sells marijuana, and spends lottery dollars. The secretary of state will now comb through the signatures to see whether they’re valid, but here’s a look at the petitions that could become ballot measures this fall.
Petition 13: Mannix’s Mandatory Minimums
Kevin Mannix was one of the guys responsible for passing Measure 11—a 1994 mandatory minimum sentencing law—and he’s back to the ballot again with a set of mandatory minimum prison sentences for felony sex crimes and drunken driving. The stiff sentences handed down under Measure 11 have doubled Oregon’s prison population in the past 15 years. Craig Prins with the state Criminal Justice Commission says that based on past sentencing rates, this measure will mean 500 extra prisoners in Oregon over the next three to four years.
Petition 28: Medical Marijuana Goes Mainstream
Right now, all medical pot in Oregon has to be grown or given away for free. This measure would set up a system of licensed dispensaries for medical marijuana. Though some marijuana advocates back the measure, pot-advocacy group Oregon NORML hasn’t taken a position on this one. “I’m not a proponent, unless it’s going to legalize marijuana for everyone,” says NORML Executive Director Madeline Martinez.
Petition 50: Rethinking Redistricting
Drawing the district boundaries for state legislators is a complicated dance between politicians, political parties, and the Supreme Court. This measure—with heavy backing from conservative activists, business group Associated Oregon Industries, and Nike founder Phil Knight—would leave redistricting to a panel of retired judges chosen by the Supreme Court. Scott Moore of progressive watchdog Our Oregon says this is a bad idea. “It would eliminate vital checks and balances, and politicize Supreme Court elections,” says Moore.
Petition 70: Throwing Money to the Birds (and Trees)
In 1998, Oregon voters passed a measure requiring 15 percent of lottery proceeds go toward fish and wildlife habitat restoration. That law is set to expire in 2014, but this year environmentalists decided to try and make it permanent. “When you know how to fix something, why keep it broken?” asks campaign spokeswoman Jessica Moskovitz. Thanks to the lottery funds, state parks spending has jumped from $12 million to $175 million. Critics, including the state teachers’ union, say the chunk of change would be better spent on schools and basic services.
Petitions 76 & 77: Cha-Ching! Legalizing a Non-Indian Casino
Lake Oswego entrepreneurs Matt Rossman and Bruce Studer want to build a casino at the old dog track in Wood Village, but Oregon state law forbids casinos unless Native American tribes are running them. So Rossman and Studer, with the help of over $1 million in capital from a Toronto investment firm and other partners, rushed to get signatures to change the law. “This illustrates that if you have enough money, you can qualify for the ballot in a short amount of time,” says Janice Thompson with Common Cause Oregon. Opponents include the Warm Springs tribes and the mayors of Gresham, Fairview, and Troutdale.
Initiative Petition 28, the Regulated Medical Marijuana Supply System, will provide patients safe access through nonprofit dispensaries similar to pharmacies, fund medical research and establish a program to assist low-income and homebound patients. According to OPB, one state analyst projects that the system will generate Oregon $20 million in the first year. Thus, it is no surprise that the proposal is supported by 59% of Oregon voters and a vast majority of cannabis advocates. Mainstream indeed.
Cannabis law reform organizations are almost uniformly behind the initiative. Nationally, NORML, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) and Americans for Safe Access are all in support.
Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of NORML, recently called for all NORML members and supporters to lend their “help and financial support to make sure that the citizens of Oregon once again have the chance to lead the way on substantive cannabis law reform measures.”
It is disappointing that Madeline Martinez and Portland-based Oregon NORML are not joining NORML and other NORML chapters across Oregon and the country in supporting this reasonable reform of Oregon’s medical marijuana law.
Oregon marijuana law reform organizations in support include Oregon Green Free (the state’s largest medical cannabis community), Voter Power, Willamette Valley NORML, Southern Oregon NORML, Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse (MAMA), Mercy Center and the ACLU. Dr. Rick Bayer, Chief Petitioner of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, and Paul Stanford, Chief Petitioner of the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act (OCTA), are also supporters.
Please support this common-sense proposal that is a win-win for both patients and all Oregonians.
Anthony Johnson
Co-Author and Co-Chief Petitioner of Initiative 28
http://www.coalitionforpatientsrights2010.com
I am, once again, disappointed in Madeline Martinez and OR NORML. How can they head an organization that is called the Oregon National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws if they are not for the reform of marijuana laws? To be clear, I would prefer that marijuana be legal. But there are flaws in Oregon’s medical marijuana law that makes it only work for the few that are fortunate enough to know a good grower. How can a leading marijuana organization be against an excellent marijuana law that will be voted on in November? Is she just bitter that their petition, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act (OCTA) did not get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot? Maybe, but I believe there are two telling situations that provide insight into her secret motivations.
First we can observe OR NORML’s bi-monthly meetings. People go to those meetings in order to access medicine. Anyone who is a medical marijuana cardholder is eligible to attend if they have paid their 35$ annual membership fee. Then two hours before each meeting, patients line up so they can get into the meeting and those who have gotten there early enough to get in to the meeting receive 1 gram of medical marijuana. Sick and dying patients will wait in line outside in the cold, hot, rain and sometimes snow in order to get their 1 gram because there is no law legalizing medical marijuana dispensaries. So, the first telling fact is that if we legalize dispensaries, OR NORML would lose membership fees from those who can finally steadily access medicine.
The second fact that exposes Madeline for her real intentions is seen in OCTA. The first OCTA version that was filed two years ago was later pulled from circulation because it would have eliminated the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) in favor of state run medical marijuana stores with medicine grown by the state only (as if the state would willingly grow and dispense something that is a federal crime). This would have been a disaster for patients who have been required for the last 12 years to grown their own or designate a grower. It would have made 36,000 patient’s grows suddenly illegal that they have invested thousands of dollars in. Their second and final version of OCTA that was attempting to get on the November ballot cut out the part that would have eliminated the OMMP but still only allowed the state to produce and sell marijuana. Why would the state be the only entity to be able to make money off of marijuana? One theory is that it is because Madeline is a retired prison guard for the state of California. I believe Madeline is working for the wrong side, the state of Oregon, that has been and currently is making money off of prohibition. If people think they should support OR NORML because they want to legalize the dream jobs of growing and selling marijuana then they need to wise up to what their executive director has actually supported. She wants the state to be the only entity to make money off of marijuana, and has vocally spoken out against dispensaries, at first because it would make money off the backs of patients. She has stopped making that argument recently but still states we shouldn’t vote on any initiative unless it is full legalization. We patients need a steady supply of medical marijuana that is regulated by the state so we can, for the first time, have medicine that has been tested for purity and safety.
We also need to stop listening to OR NORML. There are other NORML chapters Madeline refuses to acknowledge, such as Southern Oregon NORML because they work together with other organizations to get things done. Also, the media should consult people that have actually succeeded at getting marijuana law reforms on the ballot and passed. Anthony Johnson has co-authored and worked to get three successful petitions into law. You can find him at Oregon Green Free.
Hopefully Oregon norml will wise up and get rid of Madeline Martinez. She has made a living off the back of medical patients and now turns on them while she still profits from them.
I-28 is the patients best hope of a constant, fair, clean and legal supply of their medicine.
It is supported by all the medicinal marijuana groups in Oregon that are actually out there helping patients.
As said earlier. If you appose I-28 then you are apposing marijuana reform.
OrNorml needs to back I-28 or they are not living up to their promises to their members.
Here are some links for the real story on medicinal cannabis in Oregon.
http://www.oregongreenfree.net/
http://www.coalitionforpatientsrights2010.com/
Spread the word.
Patients that qualify for the medical marijuana program should have safe reliable access to the medicine. The current system that requires patients to produce their own medicine is unworkable and leaves many of the sickest patients going without. A well regulated dispensary system will be a win-win for everyone. The question of legalizing marijuana for everyone will have to wait for another election. In the meantime, let’s make life easier for patients and vote for this common sense initiative.
I knew there was something fishy about the re-districting law! I shouldn’t have signed it, but thankfully I can always vote it down. And thanks to all the folks that weren’t dicks to me while I was working on the lottery/parks petition. AND FUCK YOU to the all the passive-aggressive dipshits that refused to acknowledge my existence and made my job that much harder. It’s called DEMOCRACY assholes, participate why don’t you?!? It took 30 seconds to learn about the petition, and about 10-20 seconds to sign it. Yes, education is an important resource but so are parks and wildlife. Thanks for signing, and vote YES on 70.
Sincerely,
The long-haired guy in front of Powell’s on Burnside in the baseball cap during the weekends
PS- You may have thought it was original/funny but I must have heard “I hate Parks!” about 10 times a day while I was working.
I don’t normally advocate for political causes but the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board definitely needs money for what it does. Right now OWEB is the predominant habitat restoration organization in Oregon. Although federal and state management agencies such as the BLM, USFS, ODF conduct a LOT of stream restoration, almost all of that restoration happens with Oregon Watershed Councils as partners. OWEB is a great way to add resources to communities throughout Oregon (rural and urban alike) and the work that OWEB is doing is (for the most part) federally mandated in some way. Even if there wasn’t an OWEB the work would still be required (aka federally mandated as part of the clean water act/endangered species act or other such law) but it would be more expensive and time consuming to get the work done. Most watershed council coordinators are highly educated and knowledgable and they work for very little ($). The small sum that OWEB requires to run doesn’t all come from the same pot of money that schools and prisons come from. There is some overlap but alot of the money that is spent during an OWEB project doesn’t come from lottery dollars. In other words the money that OWEB spends on projects is leveraged (often by 50% outside funding or inkind match but always at least 25%). This means that for every two dollars OWEB spends in Oregon there is often one dollar brought into the state from outside. Now if you were to remove that (I think I remember reading that OWEB takes ~15% of the lottery funding) this might go back to schools BUT there is still a net loss of funding because of all of the money OWEB brings in that ISN’T lottery money.
And if we don’t do the work there won’t be anything left to squabble over.
Not signing a petition, is participating in democracy. I’ve caught flak from signature gathers for not signing a petition that I didn’t want to see on the ballot. The whole idea of gathering signatures is to show support for the initiative and has nothing to do with supporting democracy.
As far as your dipshit attitude goes Tagesavage, just because you want to talk to someone doesn’t mean they have to talk to you. If your job is standing on a street corner hassling people for signatures or money to support whatever cause it is you care about, you should expect that a lot people will blow right by you. If you go door to door, you should expect that many people will cut you off during your opening monologue and if you have a problem with this the problem is with you.
It’s already the case that at least 15% of the Oregon Lottery goes towards education: 18% of proceeds go to the Education Stability Fund, capped at 5% of the general fund; when the cap is reached, 15% of lottery proceeds go into the ESF’s school capital matching subaccount.
Madeline Martinez is a hypocrite. A lying fraud trying to distract attention towards her failed OCTA2010 bid for the ballot.
If she is so against the medical marijuana program and the dispensary initiative, why did she open a dispensary only for OMMP members? I know, they called it a café or smokehouse or something like that, but when I went there I was able to buy (with my admission and daily fee) as much as I wanted. Well, she got fired from that gig and now she’s still trying to ride on the backs of real medical marijuana patients.
If Madeline is so against protection for only a few (medical marijuana OMMP patients) then how about she turns in “her OMMP patient and grower cards”? She brags about having them and if you ask her real nice she’ll show you her card along with her old badge from working as an assistant clerk in the California prison system.
I agree that it’s time to get Oregon NORML behind the rest of the NORML organization and help medical marijuana patients have access to safe medicine.
Nope, she won’t be turning in her OMMP stuff anytime soon. She enjoys the publicity too much and quick quotes to hungry newspaper reporters is all she has left. Time to go Madeline – bye bye.
Let’s count the ways mmjvoiceofreason is factually incorrect:
Mrs. Martinez does not have a dispensary. You were not able to buy “as much as you wanted”; you were allowed to come to the cafe and use as much as you wanted. No cannabis was ever sold and no cafe patron allowed to take any cafe cannabis home.
Mrs. Martinez was not “fired from that gig”; since she was the boss, it would be hard to fire her, wouldn’t it? There was a business partnership at the former cafe location that broke up. That’s not “fired”.
Mrs. Martinez is not against protection for OMMP patients. Where did you find that strawman? She is a proponent for full legalization; the ultimate protection for patients.
Mrs. Martinez was not a clerk, she was a prison guard in California guarding murderers, thieves, con artists, pedophiles, and yes, probably a few marijuana sellers / growers. That is prohibition’s fault, something she’s been working ten years to overturn.
Oregon NORML has been providing safe access to medicine for patients for years now. Oregon NORML has not opposed any efforts to provide more access for patients, but instead has remained neutral with respect to this particular measure over concerns about price and patients being exploited at $300/ounce and $15/gram.
Mrs. Martinez has just opened a new 4,000 sq ft Cannabis Cafe and is the host affiliate for the National NORML Conference here in Portland in September, as well as being on the national board of directors for NORML. She’s not going anywhere.