Law enforcement laments legal pot woes

By Edward Stratton

Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian THC-infused knockoffs of popular 

confectionaries and sodas include the Krondike Bar, Sour Gummi Bears, 

Nugtella and Canna Cola (pictured). Law enforcement officials fear the 

products are indistinguishable to children from drug-free products.

 

 

Local law enforcement, prosecutors and prevention specialists talked about pot Wednesday.

SEASIDE — When it comes to enforcing marijuana laws, Warrenton Police Chief Matt Workman joked, his officers might have to exchange their guns for scales.
The joke underscored the confusion Workman and other law enforcement officials say Measure 91, which legalized recreational marijuana, has created.
Workman, Lt. Steve Barnett, Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis and Oregon Liquor Control Commission inspector Marc Warren led a panel discussion Wednesday at Providence Seaside Hospital about the legal and commercial rollout of legalized marijuana. The presentation was organized through North Coast Prevention Works, a local coalition working to prevent drug use by minors.
“They’re not easy for cops to grasp, let alone a parent,” Workman said of the laws, reviewing the history of marijuana legislation and the specific laws with Measure 91.

Possession
The new law allows people over 21 to legally consume marijuana recreationally in a private location and grow up to four plants per household. People can carry up to 1 ounce and have another 8 ounces per person in their homes, along with 1 pound of marijuana edibles, 72 ounces of marijuana-infused liquids and 1 ounce of marijuana extracts. In general, people can legally deliver those amounts or less to another person, as long as they stay under the legal limit.
Possession of more than 8 ounces but less than 16 is a class B violation, similar to a traffic ticket. Between 16 and 32 ounces is a class B misdemeanor, while possession of more than 32 ounces is a class A misdemeanor.
Increased access to marijuana has proven to lead to increased use, said Jill Quackenbush, a prevention supervisor with the Clatsop County Juvenile Department. “If we’re growing it and having it in our homes, young people will start using it more,” she said.
Marquis, a vocal opponent of legalized marijuana before Measure 91 passed, said Oregon’s law is more wide-open than Washington state and Colorado, the other states — along with Alaska — that have legalized the drug. Giving marijuana to a minor is technically illegal, he said, but “as a practical matter, it’s going to happen all the time, unless someone complains and comes forward.”
Marquis said the law limits the police’s ability to investigate violations in the home to knocking on the door and asking questions, which people don’t have to answer.
It’s a class B violation to consume marijuana while driving, Workman said, and driving while under the influence laws are still in effect. But unlike Colorado and Washington state, which set the impairment threshold at 5 nanograms in a person’s blood, Oregon has no set limit, instead relying on officers’ observations.
Taking marijuana across state lines is still a federal crime, but Marquis said the federal government hasn’t cared for several years.

Edibles
Presenters Wednesday were also worried about edibles infused with THC — the active ingredient of cannabis — being marketed to children. A trifold poster at the presentation was covered with photos of THC-infused knockoffs of major candy and soda brands, from the Krondike Bar and Gummi Bears to Canna Cola and Nugtella.
Commercial edibles might be delayed until 2017 because the Oregon Liquor Control Commission in April asked for more time to determine the proper dosage. Edibles are already part of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program. The state requires child-resistant and opaque packaging with no cartoons or images other than the dispensary’s logo.

Pot stores
The state allowed medical marijuana dispensaries to sell up to 1 ounce of buds to recreational customers per day starting Oct. 1, while it creates rules for recreational marijuana stores and edibles.
Astoria has four dispensaries, including the recently opened Hi. Seaside has two, including Highway 420 and Cannabis Nation Inc. Workman said another dispensary is opening on East Harbor Drive near a State Farm Insurance office in Warrenton.
“Clatsop County has per capita more marijuana dispensaries than Portland times 10,” Marquis said, adding he doesn’t think the market will support them all. “The stores can be secret. There’s no such thing as a secret liquor store. You can get a license to grow marijuana, and the cops might never know about it.”
Municipalities in counties where a majority of people voted yes on Measure 91 cannot ban pot stores outright. Seaside passed an ordinance not allowing them in the Broadway commercial core. Workman said Warrenton officials will vote next week on whether to limit marijuana stores to the east of U.S. Highway 101, while limiting their times of operation, location and other factors.
“Our focus is to bring Oregon’s recreational industry into a regulated market,” Warren said of the liquor commission’s role.
Warren said the liquor commission will likely start taking applications for pot stores in January, with the first dedicated recreational stores not opening until possibly a year from now. He said the ability of dispensaries to sell recreationally sunsets Dec. 31, 2016, regardless of whether recreational stores have opened.