I characterize the current push towards marijuana legalization in America as “refracting green”. Refraction–or the change in direction of a wave due to a change in its transmission medium–is the phenomenon that leads us to misjudge an object’s position due to distortions caused within our environment. Many policymakers, having realized that marijuana is a valuable […]
Archive for December, 2013
Marijuana Legalization–Part 4, Taxes and State-Level Solutions
Tuesday, December 17th, 2013Marijuana Legalization–Part 3, Drugged Driving
Thursday, December 12th, 2013Using Marijuana While Driving The Oregon legalization bill tackles getting high while driving, but leaves DUII laws unchanged. If you light up (or its equivalent) in the car, you would be subject to the following, new proposed penalty: Section 73. Use of marijuana while driving; penalty. (1) A person commits the offense of use of […]
Oregon’s Medical Marijuana Dispensaries–Part 3: Dispensaries as Wealth Extractors
Monday, December 9th, 2013Dispensaries as Wealth Extractors As the previous posts have alluded to, the majority of marijuana will be sold in the Portland metro area, while most marijuana is produced in rural Southern Oregon communities. Critical scholars of economic development have long pointed out that rural communities are often maldeveloped by external economic forces emanating from large, neighboring cities; […]
Oregon’s Medical Marijuana Dispensaries — Part 2: County-Level Estimates
Monday, December 9th, 2013Geographic and Demographic Constraints A $96 million market? It sounds like a modern day gold rush to many entrepreneurs. The size of this rush is heavily dependent upon dispensary location and medical patients’ willingness to purchase marijuana from store-fronts. I’ve constructed some estimates on potential gross sales at the county level (using the same data from […]
Marijuana Legalization–Part 2, Minor Issues
Monday, December 9th, 2013Referenced by section in the bill are in bold followed by my commentary: _____________________________________________________ Section 29: Grounds for refusing to issue license… (2Ba): that the applicant is in the habit of using alcoholic beverages, habit-forming drugs, marijuana, or controlled substances to excess. This is completely indefensible under Oregon law and is simply bad public […]
Marijuana Legalization–Part 1, The Bill is Here
Monday, December 9th, 2013State Senator Floyd Prozanski has a legalization bill ready for introduction at the February 2014 legislative session. The bill–you can get your copy here–is entitled “Control, Regulation, and Taxation of Marijuana and Industrial Hemp Act”. The legislature has been interested in passing a thought-out legalization bill before a less articulate version is passed by Oregon voters […]
