Just Curious: Why Did Weed bill pass in WA, but not OR? (Portland: appointed, legal)

[RunTheDistance476]

Was there a major difference on how the bill was written? I thought that Oregon was pretty similar to Washington as far as demographics and such go...so how come this one was a decisive no and WA was a decisive yes?

[phlinak]

Originally Posted by wlw2009

Was there a major difference on how the bill was written? I thought that Oregon was pretty similar to Washington as far as demographics and such go...so how come this one was a decisive no and WA was a decisive yes?

That's an excellent question.

I've been wondering about that myself.

Curiouser and curiouser

[Deezus]

Basically the measure put forth in Oregon was the most lenient in terms of regulations in comparison with Colorado and Washington. People would've been able to possess and grow an almost unlimited amount of pot. Washington and Colorado have stricter limits on the amount one can posess and grow. Also the regulation of the new legal industry would be under a brand new commission that would basically be appointed by the growers themselves. Which sounds confusing to say the least, and there's not a lot of support for creating a whole new bureacratic commision that would be under the appointment of the industry it was supposed to regulate.

Because of this, a lot of the media in Oregon--and even some opinion writers who said they would've been in favor of a legalization effort otherwise--came down against the measure. Basically it was presented as one of the most poorly written and presented measures in recent history. Furthermore the backers of the measure didn't have as much funding or as good a campaign as the ones in Washington in Colorado.

Overwhelmingly, Portland and Multnomah County voted in favor of this measure--it lost big in most of the rest of the state including the suburban counties right outside Portland. But there actually was a recent editorial in the Oregonian paper calling for state lawmakers to reconsider a more regulated legalization measure--especially since the fact that it's now legal just over the Columbia River already now, which will put Portland and Northern Oregon in a unique situation.

[Rob Allen]

See my reply in the other marijuana thread.

Should the two threads be merged?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

My best guess is that the majority of voters in WA wanted it and the majority of voters in OR didn't.

On the bright side, maybe all the dopers will move north across the border. A ton of meth users moved to Bend from Washington while the economy was cooking along really hot. Then when the market crashed, they just stayed. I hope they go back to Washington where they came from because they will feel more welcome there.

[NWGirl74]

Originally Posted by Deezus

Overwhelmingly, Portland and Multnomah County voted in favor of this measure--it lost big in most of the rest of the state including the suburban counties right outside Portland.

And the flip side of that, by a narrow margin, voters in Clark County voted against it (50.2% no, 49.8% yes).

[jjpop]

I just saw today that the minimum age in WA's referendum is 21 and the minimum age in OR's is (was) 18. That may have had something to do with it as well.

[Squidlo]

Very good point. 21 would make sense.

[Nell Plotts]

I thought it was just too broad so voted "no".

[UrbanAdventurer]

Voted yes because I don't give a crap if people smoke weed. I did see some chick choking on a pipe at a red light near St. Vincent's today though and thought it wasn't a proper behind the wheel activity..