U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said he was still practically a “child legislator” when, in 1973, he joined other lawmakers voting to make Oregon the first state where marijuana possession earned the offender a civil citation rather than a criminal record and jail time.

Blumenauer was also among a smaller group of Oregon legislators who voted – unsuccessfully – to legalize possession of two marijuana plants for personal use.

“I am told that if the 19 of us that voted for it were joined by the people who voted ‘no’ but smoked dope, Oregon would have been the first state to legalize adult use” of marijuana, Blumenauer joked Thursday as he talked in what Mainers refer to as “the original Portland” about his decades of work on marijuana issues.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Oregon public health officials have released draft rules for medical marijuana dispensaries selling legal recreational pot.

The Oregon Health Authority's rules limit the type of marijuana products sold as of October 1 to seeds, dried leaves and flowers and plants that are not flowering. As expected, edibles won't be sold to recreational users at medical marijuana dispensaries.

The products can be purchased in limited quantities, including up to one-quarter ounce of marijuana flowers or leaves per day.

Only adults age 21 and older will be able to enter the dispensaries, which will verify age via a state or federally issued ID. Each purchase will be recorded.

DENVER — Every month, Jamie Perino hires a security detail to come to her three recreational marijuana dispensaries. They stop by, collect thousands of dollars in cash and head out to deliver the money to the state, county and city.

Perino, the CEO of Euflora dispensaries, said she can't find a bank that will work with her. She pays her employees and her landlord in cash. She can only accept cash from customers. She must even pay her taxes in cash.

"I can't bank my money," she said. "It's really frustrating. … When I go to pay my federal taxes, you get a 10 percent penalty for paying in cash, but we can't have a bank account. So it's just a big Catch-22."

The marijuana industry wants people to see it like any other legal business. And that means primetime TV commercials.

But maybe not yet.

The first marijuana commercial on network television anywhere in the country was supposed to air Wednesday on KATU-TV in Portland. During the evening news broadcast, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Business Conference planned to drum up attendees.

But KATU General Manager John Tamerlano said Tuesday the station had decided to pull the ad, according to Willamette Week. Tamerlano said the station doesn't accept marijuana advertising.

Seeking budding writers in Oregon

The employment outlook is looking up for cannabis aficionados. 

The Oregonian, the main newspaper in Portland, is looking for a critic to review marijuana strains and other weed-related products. The job listing for the freelance position demands an “experienced cannabis consumer” with deep knowledge of the strains of marijuana available in the state. The role will also include writing about the state’s “robust cannabis culture and marketplace.”

Oregon senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley alongside Rep. Earl Blumenauer spoke in support of The Marijuana Businesses Access to Banking Act Tuesday.

They want to change federal law that prohibits banks from doing business with legal marijuana businesses.

"It's essentially updating federal laws so that when states vote to legalize [marijuana] they aren’t penalized for it," Wyden said. "The spectacle of Oregonians running legal businesses with sacks full of cash... that’s just unacceptable.

"We’ll be able to stop this stupidness and help the industry thrive and protect people going forward," Rep. Blumenauer said.

The Oregon Medical Marijuana Business Conference (OMMBC) is just over a month away. Attendees will get the latest info on both medical marijuana regulations and upcoming recreational regulations as the conference bridges the gap between the two Oregon systems. This is the fourth OMMBC that has already sold out the first conference in Ashland and two in Eugene.

Marijuana may be decriminalized in some states, but that doesn’t mean employers will turn the other cheek to an employee’s usage. Former local Oregon news anchor, Cyd Maurer, experienced this firsthand when she was fired from Eugene's ABC affiliate, KEZI-TV.

Authorities are warning Oregon marijuana growers to be very careful using pesticides.
    
The Oregon Department of Agriculture said Wednesday it has drawn up a pesticide advisory, which the Oregon Health Authority is sending to registered medical marijuana growers around the state.
    
The advisory says no pesticides have been specifically approved for use on marijuana, which is still illegal on a federal level, and the health and safety impacts on cannabis workers have not been evaluated.
    
Department of Agriculture spokesman Bruce Pokarney says rules for pesticide use are being drawn up along with a host of other rules for growing and selling retail marijuana.