Marijuana users in Oregon will now only have to wait another three months before they can relish in the convenience of buying weed down at the local pot shop.
Earlier this week, Governor Kate Brown signed a bill into law that allows medical marijuana dispensaries that have served the state for years to incorporate recreational pot sales into their repertoire.
Under the philosophy “if marijuana is legal to use, it should be legal to buy,” Governor Brown made the decision to approve early recreational sales in an effort to bridge the gap that existed between marijuana becoming legal, earlier this month, and the projected late-2016 launch date for the state’s cannabis industry.
By allowing the medical sector to provide temporary recreational services, adults 21 and over will be able to take advantage of the legal market much earlier than anticipated — purchasing up to a quarter ounce of raw cannabis a day, as well as having access to starter plants to begin home cultivation.
What’s more is that for the rest of 2015, all of the recreational marijuana purchased in Oregon will be sans tax – the 25 percent applied to recreational sales is not schedule to take effect until the beginning of the new year.
After voters approved Measure 91, the initiative that legalized the cultivation, sale and consumption of marijuana, state regulators suggested that it could be more than a year once legalization took effect before recreational pot shops could be expected to open their doors. The new law, however, allows cannabis connoisseurs and the state to meet in the middle, with respect to the initiative, until the full recreational sector can be developed.
With the passing of the new law, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which will oversee the legal cannabis trade, can now focus on the development of the full market’s regulatory affairs without feeling the pressure with each passing day that they are forcing residents into the black market.
Oregon residents and visitors will be able to purchase recreational pot from medical marijuana dispensaries beginning on October 1, 2015.
