The Oregon Senate voted today on Senate Bill 964. Oregon Senate Bill 964 seeks to drastically alter the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP). Among some of the scarier provisions of the bill:
- Section 6 states that all medical marijuana growers have to submit a report monthly to the Oregon Health Authority which states the “number of mature and immature marijuana plants, the amount of marijuana leaves and flowers being dried, and the amount of usable marijuana, in the person’s possession” as well as ” the number of mature and mature marijuana plants, and the amount of usable marijuana, that the person transfers to each registry identification cardholder for whom the person produces marijuana.” The report also has to contain the ” amount of usable marijuana that the person transfers to each marijuana processing site: and…to each medical marijuana dispensary.”
- Section 7 deals with new grow site limits. The section states that if a grow site is located within city limits, there is a cap of 12 mature plants maximum, regardless of how many patients have registered there. If the grow site was registered prior to January 1, 2015, it can be grandfathered in, but not to “exceed 24 mature marijuana plants.” The cap on new gardens that are located outside of city limits would be at 48 mature plants, regardless of the amount of patients registered at the address. If the grow site was registered prior to January 1, 2015, it can be grandfathered in, but not to “exceed 96 mature plants.”
- Section 70 states, “the governing body of a city or county may adopt ordinances that prohibit the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries or marijuana processing sites in the area subject to the jurisdiction of the city or county.”
I’m sad to report that the bill passed a full Senate vote 29-1. The only Senator to vote against the bill was Floyd Prozanski. Mr. Prozanski should obviously be commended, and the rest of the Oregon Senate should be held accountable. The plant limits, reporting requirements, and right for municipalities to ban businesses is going to hurt many, many patients. Oregon voters want the Oregon Legislature to work on creating clear and fair recreational marijuana rules and regulations. Oregon voters do not want attacks on the OMMP, which is why they approved Oregon Measure 91 which stated no less than three times that the OMMP should stay untouched.
If you need to find out who your Oregon Senator is, click this link here. Again, Floyd Prozanski is the only Oregon Senator to oppose the bill, so unless he is your Oregon Senator, I would hope that you would contact your Senator immediately and let them know just how awful this bill is, and that you plan on refraining from voting for them when they are up for re-election. From here the bill goes to the Oregon House, where there is far less support for such harmful, unwanted legislation. I’m hopeful that the bill will stall in the Oregon House and die.
