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Douglas County, Oregon, Recreational Marijuana Cultivation, Processing, and Sales, Measure 10-143 (November 2016)
| Measure 10-143: Douglas County Recreational Marijuana |
|---|
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| The basics |
| Election date: |
| November 8, 2016 |
| Status: |
 Defeated
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| Topic: |
| Local marijuana |
| Related articles |
| Local marijuana on the ballot November 8, 2016 ballot measures in Oregon Douglas County, Oregon ballot measures Oregon Measure 91 (2014) |
| See also |
| Douglas County, Oregon Oregon 2016 ballot measures |
A measure allowing voters to decide whether or not to allow medical and recreational marijuana retail in the unincorporated areas of the county was on the ballot for voters in Douglas County, Oregon, on November 8, 2016. It was defeated.
| Voting "yes" was a vote in favor of allowing recreational marijuana cultivation and sales within the unincorporated areas of Douglas County. |
| Voting "no" was a vote against this measure and in favor of prohibiting recreational marijuana cultivation and sales within the unincorporated areas of Douglas County. |
This measure was designed to allow voters to decide whether or not to allow facilities to sell recreational marijuana within the unincorporated boundaries of Douglas County. This measure would not have affected incorporated cities within the county, such as Roseburg or Sutherlin.[1]
Election results
| Douglas County Measure 10-143 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| No | 28,585 | 54.86% | ||
| Yes | 23,525 | 45.14% | ||
- Election results from Douglas County Elections Office
Text of measure
Ballot question
The following ballot question appeared on the ballot:[2]
| “ |
Shall recreational marijuana businesses (producers, processors, wholesalers, and retailers) be allowed in unincorporated areas (outside city limits) of Douglas County?[3] |
” |
Ballot summary
The following summary of Measure 10-143 appeared on the ballot:[2]
| “ |
Douglas County adopted an ordinance (Ordinance No. 2015-07-03) referring to the voters of the county the question whether to allow recreational marijuana businesses (producers, processors, wholesalers, and retailers) in unincorporated areas (outside city limits) of Douglas County. This ballot measure asks you to answer that question. A "yes" vote allows recreational marijuana businesses in unincorporated Douglas County. A "no" vote does not allow recreational marijuana businesses in unincorporated Douglas County. The ordinance and this ballot measure do not affect the personal use of recreational marijuana under Measure 9'1. This ballot measure also does not affect the separate ballot measure concerning medical marijuana businesses in unincorporated areas (outside city limits) of Douglas County. The ordinance and this ballot measure also do not affect whether recreational marijuana businesses will be allowed inside the city limits of any city in the county -- that decision will be up to the city council and voters of each city.[3] |
” |
Support
Arguments in favor
Richard Chasm, a member of the Umpqua Cannabis Association, argued in favor of allowing marijuana cultivators, dispensaries, and facilities in the unincorporated areas of the county. He argued that the rural areas of Douglas County had perfect conditions for marijuana cultivation and that allowing the industry to operate would boost the county's economy. Chasm said, "This could be a tremendous economic benefit to Douglas County, a tremendous economic benefit to rural people, rural landowners, farmers, family farmers."[4]
Kay Bjornson, another advocate of legal marijuana sales within the county, said, "What are we going to do? Are we going to lay back and shoot ourselves in the foot and piss away the opportunity to make Douglas County the marijuana-growing capital of the world, or at least the U.S.?"[4]
Scott Newman, a veteran, argued that marijuana had helped him through depression. He said, "Cannabis has done for me in four years what the VA couldn't do in a decade with all the medications in their pharmacopoeia."[4]
Opposition
Arguments in against
Rev. Clint Caviness, the pastor of Victory Baptist Church in Roseburg, argued that allowing marijuana sales would be detrimental to the health of families. He said, "A high parent cannot be the best version of himself. In fact, he's often not even a functional version of himself."[4]
Lt. Patrick Moore, the director of the Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team, expressed concerns over the possibility of children getting access to marijuana, especially in the form of highly concentrated edibles. Moore stated, "Youth use goes up with every step of legitimization. Abuse goes up with every step of legitimization."[4]
County Commissioner Tim Freeman argued that there was no need for marijuana facilities in unincorporated areas of the county. He argued, "I believe the incorporated areas provide plenty of access."[4]
Background
| Voting on Marijuana | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Ballot Measures | |||
| By state | |||
| By year | |||
| Not on ballot | |||
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In 2014, voters approved Measure 91, legalizing recreational marijuana in the state. According to a bill passed by Oregon legislators in 2015, however, counties and cities within which a majority of voters rejected Measure 91 can prohibit marijuana sales. In 2014, about 54.5 percent of Douglas County electors voted against Measure 91. Per state law, since fewer than 55 percent of voters in the county rejected marijuana legalization, a ban on marijuana sales can only be enacted by a public vote. In counties that featured a greater than 55 percent majority opposed to marijuana legalization, the county board of supervisors is allowed to ban marijuana sales without a public vote.[1]
Path to the ballot
This measure was put on the ballot by the county board of commissioners. When the board voted to put this measure on the ballot, County Commissioner Tim Freeman said, "Instead of three commissioners deciding, the people of Douglas County are going to be able to decide if they want this in their community or not."[1][4]
Related measures
2015 and 2016
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Douglas County marijuana sales question Measure 10-143. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Bulletin, "Southwest Oregon county puts pot sales on fall ballot," July 17, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Douglas County Elections Office, "Notice of Measure Election: Measure 10-143," accessed July 24, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 The Umpqua Post, "Douglas County puts pot sales ban on ballot," July 21, 2015
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