top
US
US
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

OREGON VOTERS REJECT MEDICAL MARIJUANA MEASURE

by repost
Oregon voters rejected a ballot measure Tuesday that
would have greatly eased access to medical marijuana by raising the amount
patients could legally possess, and creating state-regulated dispensaries
for the drug.
Pubdate: Tue, 02 Nov 2004
Source: Associated Press (Wire)
Copyright: 2004 Associated Press
Cited: Measure 33 http://www.yeson33.org/


OREGON VOTERS REJECT MEDICAL MARIJUANA MEASURE

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Oregon voters rejected a ballot measure Tuesday that
would have greatly eased access to medical marijuana by raising the amount
patients could legally possess, and creating state-regulated dispensaries
for the drug.

With 65 percent of the statewide vote counted, Measure 33 trailed 42
percent to 58 percent -- with 667,647 voters rejecting the measure and
490,301 voting for it.

In the other health-related proposal on the ballot, a measure to cap
so-called pain and suffering awards in medical malpractice lawsuits was too
close to call with 65 percent of the vote counted. Measure 35 would put a
half-million dollar lid on non-economic damages, while allowing juries to
fully award compensation for lost wages and medical costs.

Returns posted shortly after 10 p.m. showed 575,492 voters had rejected
Measure 35, and 573,425 had approved it, or a 50 percent to 50 percent tie.

Oregon's Measure 33 was one of three on marijuana policy on ballots in
Western states Tuesday, including a potentially history-making proposal to
decriminalize marijuana in Alaska.

Critics of Oregon's measure said it was aiming toward the same goal of
legalization, although through the backdoor of easing rules on medical
marijuana.

"The failure of Measure 33 simply confirms my belief in the ability of
Oregon's voters to spot a wolf in sheep's clothing," Benton County District
Attorney Scott Heiser said.

"Measure 33 was nothing more than an attempt to legalize recreational drug
use under the guise of helping the suffering," he said. "Obviously, the DAs
of Oregon are very pleased to see the voters soundly rejecting this
disingenuous measure."

Longtime medical marijuana advocate John Sajo, director of Voter Power, the
group that sponsored Oregon's original 1998 medical marijuana law and led
the Measure 33 effort, said the campaign failed because it was underfunded.

"We were trying to make some relatively big changes with a small budget,"
he said.

The measure would have required the state to buy the drug for low-income
patients, and would have allowed the commercial sale of pot to people with
medical marijuana cards.

"Our opponents did a good job distorting what the measure would do,
painting it as legalization, which it was not...Marijuana is medicine, and
patients need to get it," Sajo said.
Add Your Comments
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network