November 30, 2015

Call To Action – Help Protect Marijuana Reform In Southern Oregon

November 30, 2015
oregon medical marijuana cannabis oregonian newspaper

oregon medical marijuana cannabis oregonian newspaperSouthern Oregon is one of the best places on the planet to grow marijuana. A lot of medical marijuana is grown in Southern Oregon to help the patients that very much need the meds. Southern Oregon also has the potential to grow a lot of recreational marijuana to supply customers across the state. Anyone who has spent time in Southern Oregon knows that it desperately needs this new economy to replace other industries that have folded in recent decades. Below are two action alerts from the Oregon Sungrown Growers Guild. One is for the City of Ashland, the other for Jackson County. If you are in the area, please do what you can to support the efforts:

Call to Action- Ashland City Council Meeting

December 1, 2015 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

1175 E Main St Ashland, OR 97520

It’s time to fight for patients’ rights and access to medicine once again.

Even if you do not live in Ashland, please join us to take a stand for our rights as patients, growers, & property owners!!

A couple of weeks ago, we called upon you to contact the Medford City Council to stop the ban of all personal marijuana gardens and your voices were heard loud and clear. Thanks to phone calls, emails and concerned citizens showing up at Medford City Hall, we managed to stop the ban. Now, we must again make our voices heard to stop a bad law that will only end up hurting the sickest and poorest patients among us. This time, we need to urge the Ashland City Council to reject unnecessary medical marijuana regulations. These bad regulations will be proposed before the Ashland City Council at the December 1st meeting that starts at 7pm.

The Ashland City Council is hearing a proposal from the Planning Commission that will hurt patients’ safe access to cannabis for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, the proposal will decrease the number of plants that that can be cultivated outdoors. Decreasing the number of outdoor plants will decrease the amount of medicine available for patients in the area and will force more marijuana to be grown unsustainably indoors. Limiting outdoor plants to 4 is likely illegal and could lead to costly lawsuits levied against the city.

The Oregon Legislature already limits the number of medical cannabis plants allowed in city residential areas to 12; this proposed ordinance will only allow for 4 outdoor plants. While the Planning Commission feels that four outdoor plants can sufficiently supply a patient, many gardens supply multiple patients living in a household. Many patients donate excess medicine to other patients who may not have a grower. Severely decreasing the number of outdoor plants can prevent the charitable donation of medicine to the most vulnerable of patients. Curtailing outdoor cultivation will push many patient gardens indoors, increasing the amount of electricity used and the cost to produce medical marijuana. Enforcement of this law could also prove to be costly and inefficient as Ashland law enforcement has more important priorities.

The Planning Commission is also proposing a 10-foot setback from property lines and and 20-foot setback from adjacent houses. While not as egregious as limiting outdoor plants, these setbacks could also harm patients with gardens on smaller properties. These setbacks likely won’t accomplish the goal of decreasing odor complaints and could also prove costly for the city to attempt to enforce.

Additionally, the Planning Commission is proposing to place a 1,000 foot barrier between all marijuana dispensaries, whether medical or recreational. This arbitrary barrier will decrease competition, harming patients and consumers, as competition helps keep prices low. Most, if not all, current dispensaries will switch over to the recreational market and OLCC rules prohibit any discounts to patients. Thus, the 1,000 foot barrier will have the unintended consequence of denying discounts to patients, such as those currently offered to veterans and low-income cancer patients. The commission has admitted that they haven’t received any complaints regarding existing medical cannabis dispensaries, illustrating that the 1,000 foot barrier simply isn’t needed. It will be sufficient to simple allow recreational marijuana stores to exist in the same zones that medical dispensaries are allowed today.

Further, the Planning Commission supports limiting commercial marijuana cultivation within 5,000 square feet and to only allow such cultivation within agricultural zoned areas. State law already limits sites to 10,000 square feet maximum and prohibits commercial cultivation in residential areas. Additional city regulations of licensed commercial cultivation sites aren’t needed at this time.

The Oregon Medical Marijuana Program has benefited tens of thousands of patients across the state. Patients depend upon this life-saving medicine and many patients depend upon the kindness of others. These proposed rules, while well-intentioned, will unnecessarily hurt the sickest and poorest patients among us. The recreational system is just now getting started and we don’t know how the new system is ultimately going to impact patients. It is premature to consider these new regulations at this time. Please contact the Ashland City Council and urge them to vote no on passing these proposed medical marijuana regulations.

You can contact all of the Ashland City Council members by filling out the contact form here: https://www.ashland.or.us/CouncilContact.asp. Put “Marijuana Regulations” in the subject line and urge the council members to vote “No” on:
1. limiting the number of outdoor medical plants to 4;
2. garden setbacks;
3. 1,000 foot barrier between marijuana dispensaries; and
4. limitations on licensed commercial growing beyond state regulations.

You can also call the City Council at (541) 488-6002.

The City Council will be hearing from the Planning Commission on December 1st and votes on the proposal could occur on December 15th and January 5th. Please make your voices heard and spread the word to family and friends. We encourage people to attend the City Council meetings at 1175 East Main Street and make their voices heard.

Call To Action: Jackson County Planning Commission

December 3, 2015 @ 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Courthouse Auditorium 10 S Oakdale Ave Medford, OR 97501

Consideration of Text Amendments to the Jackson County Land Development Ordinance amending Chapter 3 Application Review and Decision adding a Marijuana section applying to both Medical and Recreational, Production, Processing, Wholesaling (for recreational marijuana only) and Retailing/Dispensing, Chapter 4 Resource Districts, Subsection 4.2 Exclusive Farm Use (EFU) District, creating regulations related to recreational and medical marijuana uses, Subsection 4.3, Forest Resource (FR) District creating regulations related to recreational and medical marijuana uses, Subsection 4.4 Aggregate Removal (AR) District creating regulations related to recreational and medical marijuana uses, Chapter 6 Use Regulations, Subsection 6.2 Table of Permitted Uses, establishing and/or amending regulations related to recreational and medical marijuana uses, Subsection 6.3 Additional Use-Specific Regulations creating regulations related to recreational and medical marijuana uses, Subsection 6.4 Accessory Uses and Structures creating regulations related to recreational and medical marijuana uses, and Chapter 13, Section 13.3 Definitions, incorporating definitions related to recreational and medical marijuana and recreational and medical marijuana uses. LRP 439-15-00012-LRP. Kelly Madding, Director

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