New Bid to Legalize Marijuana in Bend Begins

If Bend resident and repeat city council candidate Ron Boozell has his way, the city will become an island of legality for marijuana users, and Bend officials will gain both economic development and more dollars to spend on other needs, rather than enforcing rules against pot possession.

Boozell received approval Friday from City Recorder Robyn Christie to begin circulating initiative petitions for an as-yet undetermined future ballot, seeking to put what he calls the ?Community Cost Reduction Act? up for a vote.

The proposed city charter amendment would prohibit Bend from using city resources ?to restrict or punish any person for cannabis possession in any form or quantity.?

The ?major effect? of the charter, according to the explanatory statement, ?would be to prohibit city police and other city employees from involvement in any criminal investigation or prosecution or employee investigation or discipline based on cannabis possession.?

Christie said Boozell would need to gather 6,615 voter signatures ? 15 percent of the city?s total ? to make the ballot.

Boozell first launched a similar petition bid last fall and began gathering signatures, but withdrew that one and started over with a simpler proposal.

?After feedback while petitioning the first time, I really found that bringing it back to 28 words, really simplifying, makes it easier for everyone to understand,? Boozell said. He did not say how many signatures he had on that one but indicated he was ?pretty deep into it? before he decided to rework it.

The new prospective petition was submitted Feb. 9, after which the city crafted the ballot title and there were legal notices issued, so the public could petition the ballot title to circuit court, if they wished.

The filing of campaign finance paperwork and a statement of organization were the last steps needed before the petition was certified for circulation Christie said.

One form filed with the city confirms Boozell?s intention to not pay any petition circulators.

?I have a big, long list of mailing addresses from the first (attempt), so that?s where I?ll start,? Boozell said.

?It?s all about redirecting police and court services,? Boozell said. ?We?re in the midst of a social economic revolution. We?ve got to take back our communities. These communities are ours.?

?It?s probably a long shot (for the November ballot), he added, ?but you never know. Things might catch on. We have up to two years to do this.?

?This is about ending cannabis prohibition,? Boozell said. ?Our economy demands access to the rainbow of products that cannabis offers. It?s going to be an economic boon to the community.?

On Saturday, Boozell provided this statement about his proposal:

Police and Fire already spends 81% of the City of Bend General Fund. Some want to raise spending to hire more police. We cannot afford to raise costs. The solution is to lower the workload.

The Community Cost Reduction Act is the answer to an expensive Drug War that is distracts our local court and police services from real crime, and makes our children unsafe.

The War on Cannabis has never proven profitable, and keeps us from producing healthy food and medicine, and fuel, and clothes, and paper. Violence and incarceration of our peaceful friends and neighbors gains us nothing.

Corporate interests that oppose us are the Pharmaceutical companies, Big Oil, Big Logging, Chemical companies, Insurance companies. Big Food. Wall Street. Banks. The list is long. Politicians are not the only ones that benefit from the War on Cannabis.

This amendment to our City Charter will allow the entrepreneurs in the Cannabis Community in Bend to produce without fear of punishment, and consumers free to purchase. To pursue economy and prosperity. To pursue economic and environmental sustainability.

In these tough economic times, we see how important it is for our community to take control of our community resource and use it more wisely. This Initiative takes a first step toward more responsible and smarter use, and restrains that use from waste and abuse.

No cannabis product has ever been proved unsafe.

Cannabis is Earth-Friendly.