Oregon Lawmakers introduce Bill to protect Recreational Marijuana Industries

Posted by Sagar Satapathy on April 01, 2017.

Amidst uncertainty over the Trump administration’s stand towards federal crackdown of marijuana legislation, Oregon lawmakers are taking proactive steps to protect recreational marijuana industries in the state.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer and Sen. Ron Wyden on Thursday announced a legislative package- "Path to Marijuana Reform" to protect legal marijuana even as the US attorney general has heavily criticized marijuana legislation in various states of the country.

"What the two of us are here today to say is: Voters in Oregon and others states have chosen to legalize marijuana, and their votes shouldn't just be casually thrown in the trash can by this administration", Sen. Wyden and Rep. Blumenauer said in a statement. "More than 20 percent of Americans live in states that permit adult use of marijuana."

Both the Democratic legislators said, they will preserve the integrity of state marijuana laws and provide a path for responsible federal legalization and regulation of the marijuana industry.

In this new package of bills, Wyden for the first time supports removing federal criminal penalties for all users, both recreational and medicinal. He is also now in favor of completely removing marijuana from the federal list of controlled drugs.

The move came at a time when marijuana has been garnering support nationally while White House press secretary Sean Spicer last month indicated that the Trump administration may enforce federal marijuana laws in states where recreational marijuana is legal.

Marijuana analytics firm New Frontier Data expects the national legal marijuana market to grow to more than $24 billion by 2025. It projects Oregon's recreational marijuana market will be worth roughly $502 million by the end of this year and about $827 million by the end of 2025.

Though marijuana remains illegal under the federal law, Oregon has already legalized marijuana for both medical and recreational purpose.

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