Members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs will vote Thursday on a proposal to grow and process marijuana on the reservation and sell the product at tribal-owned stores in Portland and other Oregon cities.  

If the referendum passes – and the state signs off on the plan – Warm Springs would be among the first tribes in the country to enter the commercial cannabis market. The tribes expect to have results Friday.  

It's a trend fueled by a federal memo issued last year that said the government would treat tribes as they do states when it comes to legal pot. But debate over cultural, economic and health risks, as well as complex legal issues, has most Native American tribes moving slowly on marijuana initiatives.  

Medical marijuana growers would be subject to a $200 annual fee for every patient they grow for under a proposal being considered by the Oregon Health Authority.

Medical marijuana growers in Oregon can grow cannabis for up to four patients. Under current rules, the state charges $50 for every patient a grower takes on, but recent changes that expanded the health authority's oversight of production and processing prompted officials to propose the steeper fees to help cover the agency's expenses.

The fee increase is estimated to boost revenue from $1.3 million to $5.2 million in the 2015-17 budget cycle.

Mt. Angel voters will decide next year whether marijuana businesses will be allowed or banned in town.

The ban on both medical and recreational marijuana facilities was referred to voters by a pair of unanimous decisions by the Mt. Angel City Council on Dec. 8. Voters will make the final decision next November.

Because a large enough majority of Mt. Angel voters panned Measure 91’s statewide bid to legalize recreational marijuana last fall, council members could have adopted an outright ban on commercial enterprises. House Bill 3400 allows communities that voted “no” by 55 percent or more to enact a ban without gathering additional voter input.

Public views mixed, but Bend official says: Not here, either

As of Jan. 1. the World Famous Cannabis Cafe in Portland is being forced to close, as state lawmakers have broadened the state's clean indoor air regulations to include marijuana.

By law an Inhalant means:  "Nicotine, a cannabinoid or any other substance that's inhaled into a person's respiratory system."

With this new law, marijuana lounges, of which only a handful exist, are not allowed in the state of Oregon.

Bend City Councilor Victor Chudowsky said Bend will follow the lead of the state.

"Cannabis cafes are absolutely illegal in Bend," Chudowsky said. " If somebody tired to open one here, it would not only be contrary to the codes that we just passed, but also to state law."

The cannabis market has come a long way in recent years, and 2015 was no exception. While marijuana is still considered a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act, the US has allowed patients with a variety of medical conditions to smoke marijuana in 23 states since 1996, and this year more states have moved to legalize both medical and recreational cannabis.

For example, in February, Alaska became the third state to allow individuals to grow, smoke and possess cannabis for recreational use, while Oregon became the fourth in July. There have also been initiatives in the medical cannabis space, with both Texas and Georgia signing bills last year to legalize low-THC cannabis oil for the treatment of epilepsy and other chronic diseases.

In order to be ready well beforehand to take applications for recreational dispensaries on January 4, 2016, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) recently adopted temporary rules to regulate the industry.

The temporary rules will take effect January 1, 2016 and will remain in place until June 28, 2016 or whenever the OLCC adopts permanent rules.

Last month, Rob Partridge, OLCC chair said the temporary rules mark “another milestone in Oregon’s effort to establish a robust, safe, and well-regulated recreational marijuana industry.”

Oregon medical marijuana patients who work at dispensaries will no longer be allowed to vape or smoke under rules proposed by the state health authority.

In response to the state's Indoor Clean Air Act, the Oregon Health Authority's proposed dispensary rules prohibit smoking, vaporizing or inhaling cannabis products by dispensary employees who are medical marijuana patients.

They may still consume tinctures or marijuana-infused edibles. Employees can't consume in an area of the dispensary that is visible to the public outside of the establishment or visible to patients or caregivers.

SALEM — State officials have appointed 15 members to a new cannabis research task force charged with studying and recommending legislation on the development of the medical marijuana industry.

The body — officially called the Task Force on Researching the Medical and Public Health Properties of Cannabis — has yet to schedule its first meeting, said Susan Wickstrom, an Oregon Health Authority spokeswoman. The agency was in the process of scheduling one at press time.{img:93781}

Marijuana discussions return to the Gresham City Council on Tuesday as officials plan to recommend to councilors the repeal an existing 10 percent sales tax on recreational marijuana, and instead ask voters to approve a 3 percent tax.

The repeal of the 10 percent tax would keep the city in compliance with laws passed by state lawmakers this year that amended last year's Ballot Measure 91, according to City Council records. More than 51 percent of the Gresham voters who casted ballots supported Measure 91, which authorized recreational drug use.

Hieb said that although the newspaper publishers group is looking for legal clarity on the issue, she's advising members not to run marijuana ads if they use the postal service for some delivery, fearing USPS could "seize all papers".

Some potentially bad news for OR newspapers that accepts ads from local marijuana dispensaries.

OR legalized medical marijuana use in 1998 and recreational use in 2014, that law took effect in July and the state is still working through a number of problems. But that law has become somewhat obsolete, as Congress stripped the U.S. Department of Justice, which includes the DEA, of its power to interfere in states that have legalized medical marijuana.