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Contrary to Oregon’s generally retail-tax-free-and-proud lifestyle, Eugeneans pay sales tax on four common purchases: alcohol, tobacco, gasoline and pot. Since recreational pot sales went legit last year, Oregonians pay a whopping 25 percent state sales tax on recreational marijuana. Continue reading
Local businesses worry the cannanbis industry is edging them out. While Oregon may still be the new kid on the legalization block, the two states that beat us to the punch, Washington and Colorado, might have a lesson or two to teach us about what’s to come. There’s no doubt that states have benefited financially from taxing the recently legalized industry and are looking at dramatic declines in crime rates, according to a 2015 study by the Drug Policy Alliance. Continue reading
When it comes to weed, a clutch of competing cannabis mythologies seems to guide our collective imagination, each one containing seeds of truth and shakes of misinformation and ignorance. One of the more subtle myths surrounding cannabis goes something like this: “Dude, it’s all good. Weed is a product of the earth, God-given, and we are meant simply to grow it, smoke it and enjoy. Unlike alcohol, weed never hurt anybody. It’s just a plant, for goodness sake.” Continue reading
If there were a Mount Rushmore of stoners, Bob Marley, Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson and Tommy Chong would proudly be on display. EW sat down with Grammy Award-winning comedian, activist and stoner legend Tommy Chong this week to discuss his views on cannabis regulation, 6-foot bong rips, his battle with cancer, the unveiling of “Chong’s Choice” and his comedy partner, Cheech Marin, doing too much weed at the wrong time. Continue reading
Hey, hold on just a second before you fire up that weed — it could be toxic as hell. A shiver ran through Eugene’s marijuana community Feb. 5 when the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) ordered the stop-sale of Guardian, a popular pesticide, after it was discovered the product contained abamectin, an insecticide that is highly toxic to bees and marine life, and which in high doses may lower sperm count in men. Continue reading
Marijuana: controlled substance or religious sacrament? In December 2015, the Portland branch of the United States Postal Service (USPS) seized a 5-ounce package of marijuana mailed from Eugene by Joy Graves — the leader of the Cottage Grove branch of Oklevueha Native American Church (ONAC) — who says it was intended to help an ailing ONAC member in Ohio. Continue reading
Adam Jacques. Photo by Trask Bedortha. Continue reading
Kermit and I may have broken up, but that doesn’t mean he stopped hooking me up with the green stuff. In our June Cannabis issue, EW promised to “investigate (smoke) a range of strains, noting their particular effects on brain and body” — all provided by Kermit, our go-to producer of medical marijuana. Continue reading
Free joints, lines around the block, medical marijuana express lanes — the first day of October will surely be a day of celebration for many and, perhaps, a headache for others. Oct. 1 marks another milestone for cannabis legalization in the state of Oregon: Medical marijuana dispensaries will be able to legally sell limited amounts of pot to recreational users — customers without an Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) card — who are over the age of 21 with valid proof of age. Continue reading
Well, Oregon, we’ve come a long way. As of July 1, recreational marijuana use is legal for adults. Prohibition ends at last. Reefer madness, at least for now, has found its antidote, and it turns out it was legal, regulated marijuana all along. We hope that this will be the start of a greener, brighter chapter in pot’s problematic history — an era in which cannabis research proliferates and the number of people in prison for marijuana offenses drops off; when all the benefits of marijuana are explored without fear or resistance. Continue reading