When Oregon voters in 2014 approved the ballot measure legalizing recreational pot, they specified that pot use in public places would remain unlawful.
But as marijuana growing, processing, retailing and consumption have swelled in Oregon, so has the chorus pushing for the right to toke on pipes or joints or inhale from vaporizers in public — whether at pot lounges or in city parks.
Some Oregon lawmakers tried to push the public-smoking bubble in the legislative session that just ended. Senate Bill 307 would have allowed licensed marijuana lounges, where pot smokers and vapers could publicly partake in pot. It also would have allowed public marijuana use at temporary events.
But the bill died in committee, despite the backing of famous former Trail Blazer basketball player Cliff Robinson, now a pot retailer and advocate, and other notables, such as Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler.
Public use of pot remains one of the unresolved features of recreational marijuana legalization in Oregon. People do smoke pot in public, including on streets and in parks. But that’s a violation of state law, a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $3,500 and six months in jail.
Pot supporters say SB 307’s failure hasn’t ended the push for pot use in public.
“We clearly see a demand for people to be able to consume these products safely and in a legal environment,” Oregon Retailers of Cannabis Association Executive Director Casey Houlihan said.
Pot shops are proliferating in Eugene, with 53 shops open and another 14 proposed as of the middle of June. But the stores are only a place for customers to buy marijuana; they can’t legally use pot in the stores.
Oregon law restricts the use to private premises.
Oregon has been a national leader on allowing recreational marijuana use — except when it comes to public use — said Alex Rogers, producer of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Business Conference in Eugene. “It is just so backwards that we would not allow smoking lounges,” he said.
After all, the thinking goes: Oregonians 21 and older can legally drink alcohol in bars and restaurants, and in many other public spots, such as beaches, rivers and parks. So why not allow people 21 and older to smoke pot in designed areas?
Oregon isn’t alone in having a public pot-use paradox though. California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Washington and Alaska, as well as the Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational pot use, but not in public.
By keeping public pot use illegal, Oregon is losing out on tourism dollars, Rogers said.
“Cannabis tourism is a multi-million dollar industry that we should be capitalizing on,” said Rogers, who lives in Ashland.
Marijuana supporters have found a loophole in Oregon’s law to provide a nearly public marijuana use.
The loophole: party buses. On April 20 this year — a holiday in the marijuana world known as 4/20 — a party bus, like those used by bachelor or bachelorette parties, parked outside the Flowr of Lyfe marijuana shop in downtown Eugene. Inside, a person distributed dabs, or doses of concentrated marijuana to be vaporized, for free, said Flowr of Lyfe Co-owner Morgan Glenn.
“Because it was considered private, (authorities) allowed people to do dabs or smoke weed on (the bus),” he said.
The bus offered pot fans a place to celebrate the holiday, but it didn’t provide the business opportunity that backers of the pot-use-in-public bill saw with lounges and events.
The concept of lounges where marijuana smoking is allowed brings with it myriad complexities, including whether such establishments would need an exemption from the Oregon Indoor Clean Air Act, which bans smoking in indoor public places, including bars, restaurants and fraternal organizations.
The statewide ban does allow smoking in establishments that are certified by the Oregon Health Authority as smoke shops and cigar bars.
Glenn said he and many other pot marijuana shop owners in Oregon support the idea of marijuana lounges, but admitted the idea has “lots of moving parts” that make it hard to win legislative approval.
“The thing with the lounges is you are going to have heavy liability,” Glenn said. “And, the other thing, is you have to have it so whatever you sell, (the customer) can’t leave with it. Just like you can’t leave with a mixed drink from a bar.”
Other potential snags include deciding whether pot could be sold and consumed in the same place as alcohol.
Houlihan, the pot association director, hopes Oregon lawmakers in the 2018 session will legalize pot use in public.
“We made a lot of progress towards that end this year,” Houlihan said. “I expect the momentum behind it to continue.”
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