Cannabis in Oregon
Cannabis in Oregon
Cannabis culture in Oregon
Usage
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), cannabis is readily available in Oregon. According to a 2006 report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in 20032004 Oregon ranked in the top fifth of states for cannabis usage in three age categories: 12 to 17, 18 to 25, and 26 and older. In 2005, while most states that had passed medical marijuana bills over the past decade saw marijuana use among teenagers decline faster than the national average (a 43% decrease), Oregon, Nevada, and Maine saw smaller decreases than the average.
Table of monthly cannabis users
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimates and publishes the number of people to have used cannabis in the previous 30 days, as compiled by the Oregon chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML):
Year
Recent Oregon
users
Recent U.S.
users
Oregon vs. U.S.
recent users
1999
6.60%
4.7%
+40%
2000
6.53%
4.8%
+36%
2001
7.19%
5.4%
+33%
2002
8.96%
6.2%
+45%
2003
8.88%
6.2%
+43%
2004
8.03%
6.1%
+32%
2005
8.36%
6.0%
+38%
Cultivation
Indoor Cannabis cultivation.
Oregon imports cannabis from Mexico and Canada, while also producing a large quantity locally. Cultivation techniques range from simple dirt grows to complex hydroponics operations. Large indoor and outdoor growing operations have been discovered on private, state, and forest lands, with plants numbering in the thousands. Recently, large outdoor growing operations by Mexican drug trafficking organizations have become more common. Highly potent cannabis grown in Oregon is consumed locally, and distributed to other parts of the U.S.
In 1988, due to the success of the DEA’s Campaign Against Marijuana Planting in California, Oregon rivaled California nationally in cannabis production. In the 1990s, Oregon was a national leader in indoor cannabis cultivation, along with California, Washington, Kentucky and South Florida. For the decade ending in 1991, the DEA considered Oregon the “nation’s cradle of indoor marijuana growing.” In 2006, Oregon was the fourth largest indoor cannabis producing state, and the tenth largest cannabis producing state overall.
Events and attitudes
See also: Portland Hempstalk Festival and Vortex I
According to Nick Budnick of the Willamette Week, medical marijuana has “helped legitimize pot culture in Oregon.” In 2005, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Doug Beckman said “I think there’s a broader social acceptance for users of marijuana. And gradually there’s increasing public pressure, I think, to decriminalize marijuana.”
Festival goers at the 2007 Hempstalk in Portland, Oregon playing Hackey Sack
In 2007, nearly 20,000 people attended the third annual Hempstalk Festival at Sellwood Riverfront Park in Portland, Oregon. While organizers insisted smoking would not be tolerated, the smell of marijuana lingered in the air and some festival goers chose to consume various forms of cannabis foods. No festival attendees were arrested. Seattle Hempfest is an annual event in Seattle, Washington also attended by Oregonians, known as the world’s largest annual gathering advocating decriminalization of marijuana for uses including but not limited to medicinal, industrial, and recreational. The 2008 Seattle Hempfest, which took place August 1617, set a new record with around 150,000 people in attendance.
Legality
Cannabis and marijuana were legal in Oregon until 1935, when the state passed the Uniform Narcotic Act. The legislative record contains no mention of those substances causing any problems, but were simply included as part of the package.
Decriminalization
“the solution is not to toss youthful offenders into jail or prisons. We long ago recognized alcoholism to be a disease, and abandoned efforts to treat alcoholics simply by locking them up.”
regon Governor Tom McCall, who signed the nation’s first legislation decriminalizing certain marijuana offenses.
See also: Decriminalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States
In 1973, Oregon became the first state to decriminalize cannabis. Possession of 28.45 grams (1 ounce) or less is punishable by a 0 to ,000 fine; stricter punishments exist for sale or cultivation. Possession of 1 ounce to 110 grams is a class B felony punishable by 10 years in prison, and possession of more than 110 grams is a felony with punishment depending on the defendant’s prior record. In 1986, Oregon’s Ballot Measure 5 sought to legalize cannabis. The Oregon Marijuana Initiative spent about ,000 promoting the proposition, and collected the 87,000 signatures necessary to place it on