MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW NEEDS ATTENTION

Voter Initiatives Often Require Fine Tuning, and This 10-Year-Old Law
Is No Exception

Oregon's initiative process gives voters the ability to enact laws the
Legislature won't. That is a powerful tool, but it comes with a down
side. Recent complaints from neighbors of a medical marijuana grower
are the latest example.

Oregon voters approved an initiative legalizing marijuana use for
medical purposes in 1998. The law allows Oregonians who obtain a
medical marijuana card to possess the drug, but not to purchase it.
Growing marijuana plants is therefore an integral part of the system,
such as it is.

The problem with laws created by initiative is that initiatives are
not subject to the committee process that molds legislation enacted in
Salem. There is no opportunity to amend an initiative, to perfect its
wording or improve it in any other way. Voters are presented with an
up-or-down choice.

The good news is, a law created by initiative is no different from any
other law; the Legislature is free to alter it as lawmakers see fit.
Oregon's medical marijuana law has been in effect for more than a
decade. It's time to fine-tune it.

A story in last Friday's Mail Tribune described neighbors unhappy with
a medical marijuana growing operation they say generates heavy traffic
and exudes a pungent aroma when the plants approach harvest time.

Jackson County commissioners said they're willing to consider altering
land-use laws to address the neighbors' concerns, but they are wary of
conflicting with state law.

The commissioners are correct.

This is a statewide issue. The neighborhood dispute is probably not
the first to crop up somewhere in Oregon, and it's unlikely to be the
last.

Counties should not be left to create a patchwork of local rules to
address a statewide issue. The Legislature should make sure
large-scale medical marijuana growing operations fall under the same
guidelines as other land uses in residential areas.

Marijuana should be treated no differently than any other agricultural
crop. Farming is subject to zoning restrictions, and marijuana growing
should be as well.

Beyond that, lawmakers may want to consider licensing large-scale
growers or setting up a system of dispensaries. If the law were
amended to allow eligible patients to purchase marijuana from a
licensed grower, that could provide some income for the growers,
reduce their incentive to sell to ineligible users, and potentially
generate some tax revenue for the state, even if it was just enough to
cover the administrative costs of licensing.

Voter initiatives are a valuable part of Oregon government, but the
laws that result from them are not sacred. The Legislature has a
responsibility to fix them when they malfunction.