NEWS

In local elections, Oregon voters choose: tax or ban pot sales

Jonathan Bach
Statesman Journal
  • Cities around Marion County will vote to either ban or tax the sale of marijuana.
  • Marion County is one of five others considering these "opt-out" bans on cannabis businesses. Others include Jefferson, Lake, Gilliam and Douglas counties.
  • Another option has voters in 11 counties deciding on a 3-percent tax on sales of recreational marijuana.
  • A new Gallup poll shows a record 60-percent support for legal marijuana nationwide.
Pineapple Kush marijuana buds.

Voters in Oregon counties dotting the state will decide whether to locally tax or ban the sale of marijuana, signaling the multimillion-dollar industry could face frustration after recreational sales of the plant were made legal last year.

The local ballot measures — including those in Marion County — come at a time when legal marijuana appears to have become more palatable nationwide. A Gallup poll released Wednesday shows record support across the nation for legalization efforts as 60 percent of Americans polled said they were in favor of the crop.

Gallup forecasts the number of people living where marijuana is legal stands to climb from 5 percent to 25 percent throughout the U.S., with measures for legalization on ballots in five states this fall.

Oregon's quandary could be a proxy for the way maps change in coming years if the push for marijuana gains more traction in the U.S.

As legalization efforts mount across the nation, people can generally expect to see mixtures like Oregon's where localities are allowed to opt-out of the business of marijuana, said Sam Méndez, executive director of the Cannabis Law and Policy Project at the University of Washington. But they can't go against state law and prohibit someone's right to possess it.

Those places that prohibit the industry wouldn't reap tax benefits from it, he said. "Naturally, they’ll be missing out on the industry growth.”

Cody Dill, 37, of Rawlins, Wyo., smells buds available at TLC Cannabis Emporium in Salem on Oct. 3, 2016.

In Oregon, dispensaries are becoming more and more like normal stores. Dozens of recreational marijuana retailers moved under the oversight of the state's Liquor Control Commission in October, leading to increases in the amount of product they could move at once with a lower taxation rate.

But under state law, local governments get to push back against the crop’s sale in their own jurisdictions. Some have punted the issue to residents this November in counties where a majority of voters didn't want to pass a 2014 state measure legalizing recreational marijuana in the first place.

While counties in Eastern Oregon have largely declined marijuana business, for instance, voters in 11 other counties will decide whether to place a 3-percent tax on sales from recreational retailers, according to the Association of Oregon Counties, and five counties, mostly dotting the West of the state, will vote on measures to either welcome or nix sales.

Across the state, 50 cities and counties altogether have ballot measures on the matter this November, according to the OLCC.

One of those battlegrounds is here in Marion County. On the county's large swath of unincorporated land, growers see potential for processing sites and retail outlets outside cities. But a ban on new businesses there put in place by local officials has halted growth.

A political-action committee has come together to advocate for the passage of two measures — 24-404 and 24-405 — that would approve recreational and medical marijuana businesses in those areas.

Local marijuana PAC forms, advocates ballot measures

For Jered DeCamp, 34, a founding member of the committee and dispensary owner, it’s not about being “pro-weed."

He said: “You just have to be pro-taxes.”

Tax revenues from sales have translated to millions for the Pacific Northwestern state so far this year, and dispensaries like his have taken advantage of Oregon's status among other states as a relatively marijuana-friendly place.

Although states such as California and Arizona are considering legalization on Nov. 8, most are not.

There isn't a tax on medical marijuana in Oregon, but there is a 25-percent tax on the profitable recreational products owners like DeCamp who aren't under OLCC licensing are allowed to sell in low quantities.

Recent data from the Oregon Department of Revenue shows the state had received more than $40 million in tax revenue through the end of September. Averaging $4 million per month in tax collections since they began this January, the state may get more than predicted – originally estimated at $43 million – by year’s end.

Pot sales are likely to beat expectations

DeCamp, co-owner of Herbal Remedies in unincorporated Marion County, stands to lose his almost 20 dispensary employees if voters don’t let recreational businesses into that area. He argues dispensaries provide a boon for the community that illegal dealers don’t: they pay taxes on their product. Decamp forecasts sales of $5 to $6 million this year, which would pan out to more than $1 million in taxes to the state.

That tax revenue would funnel into the Oregon State Police, drug intervention programs, local law enforcement and schools. But the movement isn't without its detractors, such as retiree Darold Thompson.

Thompson, 52, doesn't believe the possible tax boon from sales outweighs crimes associated with marijuana. He voted against Measure 91 and he'll vote against business in the unincorporated areas.

"There's really enough access to it already now," he said.

In this Oct. 19, 2016 portrait, Darold Thompson, 52, is against the sale of marijuana in Marion County's unincorporated areas, citing concerns about crimes associated with the crop. Votes will be cast on local ballot measures that could change the Oregon marijuana industry on Nov. 8 by banning sales in areas around the state.

Even though Oregonians voted in the recreational use and sale of pot in 2014 by a margin of more than 180,000 votes, a majority of Marion County voters pushed against it by a margin of roughly 3,200 votes, public records show. That November, some 51 percent of voters here said no to Measure 91, which is what makes the race for legal sales in unincorporated areas contentious.

Even if not by a drastic margin, marijuana advocates would have to bolster their support among people in the county to either boost turnout or swing voters to their side.

The vote next month has not just local but also international investment at stake, as Toronto-based Golden Leaf Holdings sees whether an operation it planted in Marion County's unincorporated area — Greenpoint Oregon — will be able to thrive, or whether the Canadian company will need to shift processing to a property in Multnomah County.

Measure 97: A taxing debate

Investors and others interested in the cannabis movement are looking to Oregon, because out of the four states where it's legal, this state has appeared to have led the field, said Beau Whitney, vice president of regulatory and government affairs with Golden Leaf. He's also part of the political-action committee.

“Golden Leaf used Oregon as a test case,” he said, but added the company will continue to be successful regardless of the vote's outcome.

Other opt-out votes are taking place in Lake, Douglas, Gilliam and Jefferson counties.

Send questions, comments or news tips to jbach@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6714. Follow him on Twitter @JonathanMBach.

Marijuana Measures on Marion County Ballots:

Measure 24-404 asks voters if they want to allow if medical dispensaries and processing sites will be allowed to operate in Marion County's unincorporated areas.

Measure 24-405 asks voters if they want to allow recreational dispensaries and facilities to work in Marion County's unincorporated areas.

Measure 24-406 hinges on the passage of 24-405. If that goes through, passage of 24-406 would mean a 3-percent tax on top of recreational marijuana sales in Marion County's unincorporated areas.

Other measures on the ballot will affect the industry similarly in cities across Marion County with either bans or the 3-percent tax. 

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