PRO-POT EVENTS CONVERGE ON CORVALLIS

A pair of pro-marijuana events are coming to Corvallis as advocates
push to get a measure aimed at legalizing the drug on the November
ballot.

Local pot promoters are planning a Corvallis Marijuana March on
Saturday to coincide with marches in other cities organized by Cures
Not Wars, a New York-based group that opposes the war on drugs.

Sponsored by the Corvallis Cannabis Movement and Students for a
Sensible Drug Policy, the local event will begin at 2 p.m. with a
rally at the Benton County Courthouse. The march will start at 4:20
p.m., winding around the courthouse, the police station and City Hall
before turning west on Monroe Avenue to Oregon State University and
then heading back to Central Park.

In a news release announcing the event, the organizers said they'll be
looking for petition circulators to gather signatures for the Oregon
Cannabis Tax Act.

The measure, which is being promoted by the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws, would make it legal for adults to grow
and use marijuana in Oregon. It would also regulate pot sales, with
part of the proceeds going to promote industrial hemp use.

The petitioners hope to collect 125,000 signatures by July 2, the
deadline to place the ballot measure before voters in the November
general election.

On Monday, a statewide "Prohibition Has Failed" speaking tour
sponsored by Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse will roll into town for
a 10 a.m. presentation at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library,
645 N.W. Monroe Ave.

Retired law enforcement officer Howard Wooldridge will discuss the
social impact of prohibition, and medical marijuana patient Alice
Ivany will talk about Oregon's prescription pot program.

In 1973, Oregon became the first state in the nation to decriminalize
possession of small amounts of the drug. In 1998, it became the second
state, after California, to permit marijuana use for medical reasons.

A campaign to legalize pot in Oregon, however, died at the ballot box
in 1985.