Those crazy Oregonians!

Courtesy of the Oregonian. I've highlighted my favorite part of this story. You can find the full story here.

Pot ideas will test acceptance
Drugs - Signature gatherers want to change marijuana laws in Oregon, which has a high rate of users

Monday, October 22, 2007
ANDY DWORKIN The Oregonian Staff

Oregonians, prepare for reefer referendum madness.

Starting today, signature gatherers will ask Portland residents to put a law on next year's ballot decriminalizing possession of as much as an ounce of marijuana.

It's a weird request, as possessing that much pot is already decriminalized statewide. Oregon was the first state to decriminalize a little dope, way back in 1973. Having a little marijuana is now a civil violation, like speeding, punishable by a $500 to $1,000 fine.

Other Oregon pot fanciers want to move way beyond removing penalties. They're aiming for a 2010 ballot measure to legally sell marijuana through Oregon liquor stores, taxing the sales for state revenue -- a law that, if passed, guarantees a war with the federal government.

NORML, the main U.S. group backing marijuana legalization, identifies Oregon, Nevada and Vermont as the three states where its legal pot dream seems most possible.

"We just had a conference in D.C., and there were so many people from Oregon declaring their intent for this initiative, that initiative, medical marijuana," NORML spokesman Allen St. Pierre said. "I'm not really sure what's going on up there."

What seems to be happening is a union of two of this pioneering state's great loves: ballot initiatives and dope smoking.

Our ballots have carried more initiatives than any other state: 341 through last year, according to the Initiative and Referendum Institute.

And more than 1 in 8 Oregonians uses marijuana yearly, the federal government estimates, well above the 10.5 percent national average. Oregon ranks fifth in yearly marijuana use, third in use by adults older than 25. We also have one of the highest rates of people trying pot for the first time and lowest rates of residents who call monthly pot smoking very risky, the federal figures show.

"You just draw a line from Seattle to all the way just south of Los Angeles, and 50 miles inland," St. Pierre said. "That is the most tolerant place in the United States for marijuana, bar none."