Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
The city of Portland's weed bureaucracy is starting to take shape - and the dope bills are piling up.
When Oregon voters legalized recreational marijuana last November, Portland officials spent $65,800 to hire the city's first government weed regulator to set rules about where and when pot shops can operate.
Mayor Charlie Hales is asking the city to spend far more - $440,000 to create a city "Marijuana Permitting Program."
That's a new layer of licensing above the permits that will be issued to growers and stores by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. The city would also start ruling on where medical dispensaries can set up shop.
"With recent legalization of recreational marijuana sales in Oregon," Hales writes in his proposal, "the city must develop local regulations to regulate medical and recreational sales establishments."
The new program would be housed in the city's Office of Neighborhood Involvement, which shepherds the city's neighborhood associations. The office's budget request notes that the permitting program would include informing neighbors when weed stores ask to open.
The $440,000 cost would fund the current regulator, along with two more full-time employees.
It also fuels Portland City Hall's demand that the Oregon Legislature allow it to levy a local 10 percent tax on recreational marijuana sales. Local sales taxes are banned in Measure 91, which voters approved in November to legalize recreational weed.
But Portland officials and other city leaders are pressuring state lawmakers to change the rules, so cities can fund local regulation.
The Office of Neighborhood Involvement's budget request hints at the uncertain tax outlook.
"Although the program has potential to produce revenues in the future," the memo says, "the amount is dependent on many issues that are unknown at this time."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Willamette Week
Author: Aaron Mesh
Contact: mkorfhage@wweek.com
Photo Credit: Ed Kashi
Website: Willamette Week — Portland News, Movies, Music, Restaurants, Arts
When Oregon voters legalized recreational marijuana last November, Portland officials spent $65,800 to hire the city's first government weed regulator to set rules about where and when pot shops can operate.
Mayor Charlie Hales is asking the city to spend far more - $440,000 to create a city "Marijuana Permitting Program."
That's a new layer of licensing above the permits that will be issued to growers and stores by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. The city would also start ruling on where medical dispensaries can set up shop.
"With recent legalization of recreational marijuana sales in Oregon," Hales writes in his proposal, "the city must develop local regulations to regulate medical and recreational sales establishments."
The new program would be housed in the city's Office of Neighborhood Involvement, which shepherds the city's neighborhood associations. The office's budget request notes that the permitting program would include informing neighbors when weed stores ask to open.
The $440,000 cost would fund the current regulator, along with two more full-time employees.
It also fuels Portland City Hall's demand that the Oregon Legislature allow it to levy a local 10 percent tax on recreational marijuana sales. Local sales taxes are banned in Measure 91, which voters approved in November to legalize recreational weed.
But Portland officials and other city leaders are pressuring state lawmakers to change the rules, so cities can fund local regulation.
The Office of Neighborhood Involvement's budget request hints at the uncertain tax outlook.
"Although the program has potential to produce revenues in the future," the memo says, "the amount is dependent on many issues that are unknown at this time."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Willamette Week
Author: Aaron Mesh
Contact: mkorfhage@wweek.com
Photo Credit: Ed Kashi
Website: Willamette Week — Portland News, Movies, Music, Restaurants, Arts
