Bill would make recreational marijuana sales legal Oct. 1
Recreational marijuana will be legal to own on July 1, but you will not be able to buy it anywhere legally — yet. An Oregon Senate bill would make it legal to buy recreational marijuana starting Oct. 1.
“As soon as it’s legal, there needs to be a dispensary. Otherwise, how are people supposed to get the marijuana that’s supposedly legal?” Bend resident Andrew Steiner asked Friday.
Even at this late date, it’s a question that has many wondering.
“We have people that come through the door every day, believing that they can buy it July 1,” said Heather Linehan, manager at Dr. Jolly’s dispensary in Bend.
Although recreational marijuana will be legal to possess next Wednesday, there are no licensed dispensaries that can sell it legally.
A key legislative committee passed Senate Bill 460 on Thursday. It would allow temporary recreational marijuana sales in medical dispensaries starting Oct. 1.
“Early recreational sales here in Oregon needs to happen,” said Aviv Hadar, co-founder of the medical dispensary Oregrown in Bend.
Many worry that without licensed dispensaries for recreational marijuana, plenty of cannabis users might turn (or continue to turn) to the streets.
“There’s already a black market out there,” Linehan said. “It’s only going to expand.”
The original plan was to authorize dispensaries to sell recreational marijuana in October 2016, and it was meant to be sold by separate dispensaries.
“You know, we have everything set up already,” Hadar said. “Safes, security. So it makes sense to let us serve the adult use market.”
Senate Bill 460 still has to pass the Senate and House. But if it passes, anyone over 21 will be able to buy 0.25 ounces a day from a medical dispensary, starting Oct. 1.
It would be a temporary solution, until a long-term plan is in place next year.
“We don’t know what the laws are going to be,” Linehan said. “We don’t know what the medical program is going to look like in 2016. We don’t know what the rec program is going to look like in 2016.”
