Government and Politics

Marijuana Legalization

In 2012, Washington and Colorado voters made history when they approved measures to legalize recreational marijuana. Washington Initiative 502 “authorizes the state liquor board to regulate and tax marijuana for persons twenty-one years of age or older.”Since the vote in Washington, the Liquor Board has written a complex set of rules for the state’s new, legal recreational cannabis marketplace. The agency has also set limits on the amount of marijuana that can be grown. And the Board has begun to license growers, processors and retailers.For now, the Obama administration has signaled it will not interfere with Washington and Colorado’s legal pot experiment, unless there is evidence that legal pot is “leaking” to other states or children are getting access to the legal product. The feds are also watching to see if criminal organizations exploit the legal market.The first marijuana retail stores in Washington opened in July 2014.Recreational marijuana is also set to become legal in Oregon on July 1, 2015 after voters approved Measure 91 in November 2014.

Pot Shops in Bend Are Only Recreational Option East of the Cascades

NWNews | By Olivia Weitz

Published October 1, 2015 at 4:50 PM PDT

An inside view of Top Shelf Medicine, a new marijuana dispensary now selling recreational weed in Bend, Oregon.

As of Thursday, recreational marijuana is legal in Oregon. However, if you’re in Eastern Oregon, you face a long drive to score some legal bud.

Bend is the only town east of the Cascades, currently offering recreational marijuana products. Cash Smith owns Top Shelf Medicine, a pot shop in Bend. He said he’s been seeing customers from as far away as Idaho.

“A lot of the outlying communities did not go rec, so people are going to travel to the areas that there is recreational,” Smith said. “Us being on the highway, and them traveling in, we’re one of the first ones that they come to as they’re coming into Bend.”

There are a smattering of marijuana dispensaries in Oregon east of Bend, but they only sell to people with medical marijuana cards.

Adults from out of state can buy weed in Oregon. But, they’d be wise to consume it in Oregon. For example, bringing it back into Idaho could mean a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail.