By Anthony Johnson, OCIA executive director

It’s official! Oregon voters will have the opportunity to join Colorado and Washington in regulating, legalizing and taxing cannabis like beer and wine this November. Oregon has wasted too many law enforcement and judicial resources arresting and citing thousands of Oregonians every year. Nearly 100,000 times over the last decade law enforcement officers have taken time out of their day and the day of cannabis users to either write tickets or actually place someone under arrest. Those arrest and citations, in addition to the added judicial, jail and prison costs are a huge waste of Oregon’s limited resources.

The New Approach Oregon measure will also create a new regulated industry that will allow Oregon’s cannabis industry to follow in the footsteps of the state’s successful microbrewery and winery industries. Under the measure, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) will provide wholesale, retail, producer and processor licenses to qualified applicants for $1,250. This relatively low barrier to entry will allow for small businesses and Oregon mom-and-pop shops to enter the market and compete.

A reasonable one-time tax of $35 per ounce ($1.25 per gram) for flower, $10 per ounce of leaf and $5 for every plant sold will keep prices affordable, letting regulated businesses to compete, and eventually diminish the unregulated, illicit market. The OLCC will collect the tax after the first sale after production, keep enough funds for enforcement and then disperse 40% to education, 15% to state police, 10% to cities, 10% to counties, 5% to drug prevention and 20% to mental health and substance abuse treatment services.

Marijuana use must remain out of public view and cannot be delivered within 1,000 feet of schools. The measure doesn’t impact the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program and allows for limited home cultivation (similar to home brewing of beer). The proposal doesn’t change current driving under the influence laws, landlord tenant relations or workplace rules.

Polls show that the New Approach Oregon measure can win at the ballot box and an experienced campaign team has put together a plan for victory. However, prohibitionists like Kevin Sabet and vested interests such as Big Pharma are going to put up a fight. Please go to www.newapproachoregon.com to donate, volunteer and help spread the word about this important measure that will improve the lives of Oregonians and help set the stage for more states to legalize cannabis in 2016.

Anthony Johnson is executive director of the Oregon Cannabis Industry Association and the chief petitioner of the New Approach Oregon ballot measure.