Newsgroups: alt.hemp
Date: 22 Jun 93 17:49 PDT
Subject: Act to Legalize It

   This is a bill to legalize, tax, and regulate cannabis cultivation
   and over the counter sales in the State of Oregon. The following
   legislation has been through over a hundred drafts and revisions,
   over a period of more than three years. Feel free to use it, edit it,
   print and circulate it, debate it, revise it, lobby for it, and adapt
   it to meet your goals of legalization. I have researched all the
   international treaties that govern cannabis regulation and I
   believe that this is in full compliance with the provision of all
   of these treaties (Single Convention Treaty of 1961, UN Treaty on
   Psychotropic Drugs of 1974 and its amendments of 1989, etc.) For
   further details please email your inquiries to me at:
             treefreeeco@igc.apc.com
                                   Sincerely Yours,
                                   D. Paul Stanford

                       The Oregon Cannabis Control Act

        Whereas the people of the State of Oregon find that Cannabis
   hemp is an environmentally beneficial crop that:
        (a) Yields more than four times more paper than timber, more
   protein than any crop except soya beans, and more methanol than
   corn;
        (b) Yields cloth and paper of superior strength and
   durability without the application of pesticides during
   cultivation and without production of cancer-causing pollutants
   during processing; and,
        (c) Yields a substance that relieves the suffering of many
   ill people without life-threatening side effects; and,
        Whereas the people find that, despite misinformation
   concocted to justify cannabis prohibition, the courts of Alaska,
   Hawaii and Michigan have noted presidential commission findings,
   scientific studies, and learned treatises which:
        (a) Characterize cannabis as a relatively harmless,
   nonaddictive euphoriant used for over 10,000 years without a
   single lethal overdose by people seeking enhanced social
   interactions, heightened perception and creativity, personal and
   spiritual insights, and relief from pain and tension;
        (b) Demonstrate that moderate cannabis intoxication causes
   very little impairment of psychomotor functions; reveal no
   significant physical, biochemical, or mental abnormalities
   attributable solely to cannabis use; and that long-term, heavy
   cannabis users do not deviate significantly from their social
   peers in terms of mental function;
        (c) Disprove the "stepping stone" or "gateway drug" argument
   that cannabis use leads to other drugs; rather, that lies taught
   about cannabis, once discovered, destroy the credibility of valid
   warnings against other truly dangerous drugs;
        (d) Indicate that cannabis users are less likely to commit
   violent acts than alcohol users, refute the argument that
   cannabis causes criminal behavior, and suggest that most users
   avoid aggressive behavior, even in the face of provocation; and
        (e) Declare that cannabis use does not constitute a public
   health problem of any significant dimension; finds no rational
   basis for treating cannabis as more dangerous than alcohol; and
   judge cannabis to be, overall, the least harmful intoxicant; and
        Whereas the people find that cannabis is Oregon's largest
   cash crop, indicating that cannabis prohibition has failed; and
        Whereas the people of the State of Oregon find that cannabis
   does not cause the social ills that its prohibition was intended
   to guard against; rather, that most of the social ills attributed
   to cannabis result from its unreasonable prohibition which:
        (a) Fosters a black market that exploits children, provides
   an economic subsidy for gangs, and sells cannabis of questionable
   purity and uncertain potency;
        (b) Generates enormous, untaxed, illicit profits that debase
   our economy and corrupt our justice system; and,
        (c) Wastes police efforts, clogs our courts, and drains the
   public resources to no good effect; and,
        Whereas, the people recall that alcohol prohibition had
   caused many of the same social ills before being replaced by
   regulatory laws which, ever since, have granted alcohol users the
   privilege of buying alcohol from state licensees, imposed strict
   penalties protecting children, delivered alcohol of sure potency,
   and generated substantial public revenues; and,
        Whereas the people hold that cannabis prohibition is a
   sumptuary law of a nature repugnant to our constitution's framers
   and which is, on its face, so unreasonable and liberticidal as
   to:
        (a) Arbitrarily violate the rights of cannabis users to be
   secure against unreasonable search and seizure as guaranteed to
   them by Article 1, Section 6 of the Oregon Constitution;
        (b) Unreasonably impose felony burdens on the cannabis users
   while the state grants special privileges to alcohol users, which
   violates Article 1, Section 20 of the Oregon Constitution;
        (c) Unnecessarily proscribe consumption of an "herb bearing
   seed" given to the people in Genesis 1:29, thereby violating
   their unqualified religious rights under Article 1, Section 3 and
   their Natural Rights under Article 1, Section 33 of the Oregon
   Constitution; and,
        (d) Irrationally subvert the ends to which, in its Preamble,
   the Oregon Constitution was ordained and the purposes, in Article
   1, Section 1, for which our government was instituted; now,
        Therefore, the people find that the constitutional ends of
   justice, order, and the perpetuation of liberty; the governmental
   purposes of preserving the peace, safety, and happiness of the people;
   and the vitality of the other constitutional provisions cited above,
   demand the replacement of a costly, self-defeating prohibition
   with regulatory laws controlling cannabis cultivation, potency,
   sale, and use; defining and prohibiting cannabis abuse;
   protecting children with a comprehensive drug education program
   and strict penalties for the sale or provision of cannabis to
   minors; funding a state drug abuse treatment program; and raising
   substantial revenues for public education.
        Wherefore, be it enacted by the people of the State of
   Oregon, the laws relating to cannabis are revised as follows:
        Section 1. This Act shall operate uniformly throughout
   Oregon and fully replace and supersede all statutes, municipal
   charter enactments, and local ordinances relating to cannabis.
        Section 2. Section 3 of this Act creates an ORS chapter 474
   titled the "Oregon Cannabis Control Act." Legislative Counsel
   shall move and renumber existing provisions of chapter 474.
        Section 3. 474.005 Definitions. As used in this chapter:
        (1) "Abuse" means repetitive or excessive drug use such that
   the individual fails to fulfill a statutory or common law duty,
   including but not limited to the duties owed by parents to
   children, by motorists to pedestrians and other motorists, and by
   employees to employers, fellow employees, and the public.
        (2) "Cannabis" means the flowering tops and all parts,
   derivatives, or preparations of the cannabis plant, also known as
   "marijuana", containing cannabinols in concentrations established
   by the commission to be psychoactive, but does not include "hemp"
   as defined by ORS 474.005(5).
        (3) "Commission" means the Liquor Control Commission.
        (4) "Cultivation" means growing the cannabis plant.
        (5) "Hemp" means the seeds, stems, and stalks of the cannabis
   plant, and all other parts, products, and by-products of the
   cannabis plant not containing cannabinols in concentrations
   established by the commission to be psychoactive.
        (6) "Person" means a natural individual or corporate entity
   of any kind whatsoever.
        474.015 Short Title.  This chapter may be cited as the
   "Oregon Cannabis Control Act."
        474.025 Purpose of the Oregon Cannabis Control Act.  This
   chapter shall be liberally construed so as to minimize the abuse
   of cannabis; to prevent the sale or provision of cannabis to
   minors; and to protect the peace, safety, and happiness of the
   Oregon people while preserving to them the largest measure of
   liberty consistent with the above purposes.
        474.035 Powers and duties of the commission, licenses for
   cultivation and processing.  (1) The commission shall have the
   powers necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter. It
   shall make such rules and regulations as will discourage and
   minimize the diversion of cannabis to illicit sale or use within
   the state, the illicit importation and sale of cannabis
   cultivated or processed outside the state, and the illicit export
   or removal of cannabis from the state. The commissions
   jurisdiction shall extend to any person licensed under this
   chapter to cultivate or process cannabis, but shall not extend to
   any person who manufactures products from hemp.
        (2) The commission shall issue to any qualified applicant a
   license to cultivate cannabis for sale to the commission. The
   license shall specify the areas, plots, and extent of lands to be
   cultivated. The commission shall equitably apportion the purchase
   of cannabis among licensees and, unless applications fail to meet
   expected demand, shall not purchase from any one licensee more
   than one one-thousandth of the total purchased.
        (3) The commission shall issue licenses to process cannabis
   to qualified applicants who submit successful bids. Licensed
   processors shall, as specified by the commission, contract, cure,
   extract, refine, mix, and package the entire cannabis crop and
   deliver it to the commission's physical possession as soon as
   possible, but not later than four months after harvest.
        474.045 Commission to sell cannabis at cost for medical
   purposes.   The Commission shall sell cannabis at cost:
        (a) To Oregon pharmacies for use under a physician's order
   for glaucoma, nausea related to chemotherapy, AIDS, or any other
   condition for which cannabis is an effective treatment; and,
        (b) To recognized Oregon medical research facilities for use
   in research directed toward expanding medical and sociological
   knowledge of the composition, effects, uses, and abuse of
   cannabis, to include studies of cannabis purchasers voluntarily
   participating through state liquor stores under ORS 474.055.
        474.055 Commission to set price and sell through state
   liquor stores.   The commission shall sell cannabis through the
   state liquor stores and shall set the retail price of cannabis to
   minimize incentives to purchase cannabis elsewhere and to
   purchase cannabis for resale or for removal to other states.
        474.065 Qualifications of purchasers and licensees, effect
   of conviction.  (1) To be qualified to purchase, cultivate, or
   process cannabis, a person must be over 21 years of age and not
   have been convicted of sale of cannabis to minors or convicted
   under this chapter of unlicensed cultivation or sale of cannabis.
        (2)  Conviction for cultivation or sale of cannabis to other
   than minors, when committed prior to the effective date of this
   chapter, shall be expunged from the criminal records of the state
   upon petition of the offender and shall not be grounds for denial
   of an application for a license under this chapter.
        474.075 Disposition of license fees and profits from sale of
   cannabis by state.   (1) The commission shall collect license
   fees which shall be calculated and continually appropriated to
   defray the commission's administrative costs of issuing licenses
   under this chapter and the Attorney General's costs of litigation
   in defense of the validity of this chapter's provisions and in
   defense of persons subjected to criminal or civil liability for
   actions licensed or required under this chapter.
        (2) All money from the sale of cannabis shall be remitted to
   the State Treasurer for credit to a cannabis account, from which
   sufficient money shall be continually appropriated:
        (a) To reimburse the commission for the costs of purchasing,
   processing, testing, grading, shipping, storing, and selling
   cannabis; of regulating, inspecting, and auditing licensees; and
   of research studies required by this chapter; and,
        (b) To reimburse the Attorney General's office for costs of
   enforcing this chapter's criminal provisions.
        (3) All money remaining in the cannabis account after
   reimbursement of the related commission and Attorney General
   costs shall be profits which the State Treasurer shall distribute
   quarterly as follows:
        (a) Sixty percent shall be distributed to the state's school
   districts, appropriated by enrollment, and shall continually
   appropriated to fund all public education programs except drug
   education programs under ORS 474,075(3)(d).
        (b) Thirty percent shall be distributed to the state's
   institutions of higher education, appropriated by enrollment, and
   shall be continually appropriated to fund and expand such
   institutions to the end that more Oregon residents may attend and
   tuition costs may be lowered.
        (c) Five percent shall be credited to the department of
   Human Resources and shall be continually appropriated to fund a
   drug abuse treatment program providing medical and psychiatric
   treatment to drug abusers on demand and on diversion from the
   courts. The director shall design the program in consultation
   with the Council on Alcohol and Drug Problems.
        (d) Five percent shall be distributed to the state's school
   districts, appropriated by enrollment, and shall be continually
   appropriated to fund a drug education program which shall:
        (I)    Emphasize a citizen's rights and duties under our
   social compact and to explain to students how drug abusers injure
   the rights of others by failing to fulfill such duties;
        (II)   Persuade students to decline to consume intoxicants
   by providing them with accurate information about the threat
   intoxicants pose to their mental and physical development; and,
        (III)  Persuade students that if, as adults, they choose to
   consume intoxicants, they must nevertheless responsibly fulfill
   all duties they owe others.
        474.085 Commission to establish psychoactive concentrations
   of cannabinols. The commission, based on findings made in
   consultation with the Board of Pharmacy as to cannabinol
   concentrations which produce intoxication and the economics of
   residual resin extraction, shall establish reasonable
   concentrations of cannabinols deemed psychoactive under this
   chapter.
        474.095 Commission to set standards, test purity, grade
   potency of cannabis, label contents. (1) The commission, in
   consultation with the State Board of Pharmacy, shall set
   standards which the commission shall apply:
        (a) To test and reject cannabis containing adulterants in
   concentrations known to harm people; and,
        (b) To grade cannabis potency by measuring the
   concentrations of psychoactive cannabinols it contains.
        (2) The commission shall affix to cannabis packages a label
   which shall bear the state seal, a certification of purity, a
   grade of potency, the date of harvest, a warning as to the
   potential for abuse, and notice of laws prohibiting resale,
   removal from the state, public consumption, and provision and
   sale to minors.
        474.105 Commission may limit purchases. The commission may
   limit the quantity of cannabis purchased by a person at one time
   or over any length of time and may refuse to sell cannabis to any
   person who violates this chapter's provisions or abuses cannabis
   within the meaning of ORS 474.005(1).
        474.115 Unlicensed cultivation or sale, removal from the
   state, penalties. Unlicensed cultivation and removal from the
   state of cannabis shall be Class A misdemeanors, and cultivation
   for sale, removal from the state for sale, and sale of cannabis,
   without commission authority, shall be Class C felonies.
        474.125 Sale or provision to minors, penalties, exception.
   The sale or gratuitous provision of cannabis shall be a Class A
   felony, except when to a minor over 18 years of age under the
   conditions provided by ORS 471.030(1) for alcohol.
        474.135 Fine as additional penalty. In addition to other
   penalties and in lieu of any civil remedy, conviction of sale or
   unlicensed cultivation for sale under ORS 474.115 or 474.125
   shall be punishable by a fine which the court shall determine
   will deprive an offender of any profits from the criminal
   activity.
        474.145 Acquisition by minors, penalty. Except as provided
   by ORS 474.125, the purchase, attempt to purchase, possession, or
   acquisition of cannabis by a person under 21 years of age shall
   be a violation punishable by a fine of not more than $250.
        474.155 Public consumption prohibited, penalty, exception.
   Except where prominent signs permit and minors are neither
   admitted nor employed, public consumption of cannabis shall be a
   violation punishable by a fine of not more than $250.
        474.205 Commission to study methods of safe use, potential
   for abuse, establish cannabis levels for presumption of
   intoxication.  The commission, in consultation with the Board of
   Pharmacy and the Council on Alcohol and Drug Problems, and by
   grants to accredited research facilities, shall:
        (a) Study methods of safe use and the potential for, and ill
   effects of, abuse of cannabis, and shall report its findings in a
   pamphlet distributed at state liquor stores; and,
        (b) Study cannabis intoxication and, if practicable, shall
   establish by rule levels above which a person shall be presumed
   intoxicated.
        474.215 Presumption of negligence. In civil cases, a
   rebuttable presumption of negligence shall arise upon clear and
   convincing evidence that a person's intoxication by cannabis at
   the time of injury materially contributed to the cause of injury.
        474.305 Disclosure of names and addresses prohibited.
   Information on applicants, licensees, and purchasers under this
   chapter shall not be disclosed except upon the person's request.
        474.315 Effect, Attorney General's duties. If federal law is
   held to impede this chapter's full effect, unimpeded provisions
   shall remain in effect and the impeded provisions shall regain
   effect upon the impediments removal. The Attorney General shall
   vigorously defend any person prosecuted for acts licensed under
   this chapter, propose a federal act to remove impediments to this
   chapter, deliver the proposed federal act to each member of
   Congress, and urge adoption of the proposed federal act through
   all legal and appropriate means.