HB 3460 licenses and regulates medical marijuana dispensaries which improves safe access to medical care for patients in the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program.
Voters approved the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act (OMMA) in 1998, the purpose of which was to permit Oregonians suffering from debilitating medical conditions to be able to use marijuana to relive their symptoms without being in violation of Oregon criminal law. HB 3460 was introduced in order to address two specific issues that have arisen over the years.
The first issue is that many patients do not have a grower, do not want to grow themselves, and have difficulty finding safe, reliable and legal access for the medicine that they need. This issue has led to the establishment of some 200 medical marijuana dispensaries operating in Oregon today without any licensure, regulation or oversight. In most jurisdictions, law enforcement is simply allowing them to operate, but there have been some instances when these facilities have been shut down and patients relying on them have been left without safe access.
The second issue is a concern that marijuana being grown legally for patients is not finding its way into the hands of patients, but is instead being siphoned off into the black market.
HB 3460 establishes a system under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program to license and regulate the estimated 150 or more medical marijuana facilities operating in Oregon today, allowing patients, growers and medical marijuana facilities to legally work together to ensure that patients have safe access to medicine they need.
VICTORY! PASSED
31-27-2 House; 18-12 Senate SCORECARD VOTE
31-28-1 House concurrence
