Legal pot gets unlikely Oregon allies

KOIN:

SALEM, Ore. (KOIN) -- Former parole officer Shelley Fox-Loken told the Oregon House Judiciary Committee the legislature should drive the effort to legalize and tax marijuana rather than wait for a citizen initiative to force their hand."Law enforcement could better spend their time working toward solving real crime, real crises in our community," she said Tuesday.Fox-Loken was among those who filled the hearing on House Bill 3371 that would legalize pot in Oregon and allow the state to regulate and tax it through the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.The majority of the people at the hearing were in favor of the bill, but Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett is not one of them."This act will not make the problems associated with marijuana use go away," the sheriff said. "Specifically those problems include marijuana abuse, dependency, impaired driving and costly investigations of impaired driving and related traffic crashes."And Rep. Andy Olson, a Republican from Albany, also expressed concern federal law could supersede anything the state does."None of us like to see this state-by-state patchwork like we're seeing right now in Colorado and Washington," Olson said.While the future of legal, recreational marijuana in Oregon remains debated, the bill did pass out of committee. It now goes to the House Revenue Committee to look at the economic impact to the state.-- Ken Boddie

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