A state licensing board this week ordered the closure of a Tumalo pharmacy it says manufactured marijuana products, dispensed controlled substances without prescriptions and filled clients’ prescriptions at other pharmacies without their knowledge, among other things.

The Oregon Board of Pharmacy placed the Tumalo Pharmacy and its pharmacist under emergency suspension Tuesday while it completes an investigation and determines what disciplinary action to take.

Starting on July 1, as you might have heard, it will be legal for anyone over the age of 21 to possess and use marijuana under certain conditions.

With that deadline looming, state officials last week launched an educational campaign (you can view it on the website www.whatslegaloregon.com) to give residents an idea of some of the ins and outs of marijuana legalization.

You probably know the general details of the law: It will be legal for anyone over 21 in Oregon to possess up to 8 ounces of useable marijuana for consumption at home or on private property. You can possess up to an ounce of marijuana in public. You can give away marijuana and receive it as a gift — but, alas, not in time for Father’s Day.

As of July 1, marijuana will be legal for recreational use by adults in Oregon.

Now that we’re close to that eventful day, we asked our Rapid Responders to give their crystal-ball look at Oregon’s future: Will this be good or bad for Oregon?

For example, will this create more problems for law enforcement, or will police be freed up to focus on higher-priority issues? Will substance-abuse addictions increase, or possibly decrease because of how people treat marijuana?

What they said

With commercialization of this product, the illegal trade will no longer generate immense profits, so law enforcement will be able to refocus on higher priority issues.

SALEM-Medical marijuana dispensary owners pleaded Thursday with legislators to allow them to sell to recreational pot users once the drug becomes legal on July 1.

"We don't know a single dispensary doing well in this over-saturated market," said Meghan Walstatter, who along with her husband Matt owns a dispensary in Northeast Portland.

She called early sales of recreational marijuana a "much-needed lifeline" for the dispensaries.

The Oregon Health Authority has approved licenses for 310 dispensaries and another 93 are pending, according to a June 12 tally. 

Starting July 1, Oregon’s recreational marijuana laws are in effect. That means adults aged 21 and older can legally possess and use recreational marijuana in their homes or in private places.

RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA IN GENERAL

Q: What is the purpose of legalizing recreational marijuana?

A: As stated in Measure 91, the purpose of the Act is to:

• Eliminate the problems caused by the prohibition and uncontrolled manufacture, delivery, and possession of marijuana within this state;

• Protect the safety, welfare, health, and peace of the people of this state by prioritizing the state’s limited law enforcement resources in the most effective, consistent, and rational way;

• Permit persons licensed, coegulated, and taxed by this state to legally manufacture and sell marijuana to persons 21 years of age and older, subject to the provisions of this Act;

Oregon is being closely watched by reform advocates and entrepreneurs alike nationally as its recreational market inches toward realization. Oregon has been largely viewed as a Legalization 2.0 model after the continued problems, lawsuits and controversies of neighboring Washington state. In fact, it is the issues that still plague the definition and redefinition of The Evergreen State’s market post I-502 that Oregon is clearly trying to side-step as it gets the recreational green rush going.

“The Oregon market is shaping up to be one of the most exciting in the nation,” said Leslie Bocskor, the founding Chair of the Nevada Cannabis Industry Association.

Doctors and lawyers, entrepreneurs and farmers.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture issued 13 permits authorizing industrial farming for the first time ever this year.

Lack of financing, difficulty procuring seeds and conflict over fears industrial hemp will cross-pollinate with its psychoactive cousin, marijuana, have kept the young program in a protracted state of infancy.

We regularly get calls from clients in Oregon who are trying to figure out whether the property they’ve selected for their recreational marijuana business complies with applicable zoning regulations. Unfortunately, it is not yet clear what zoning regulations pertaining to recreational marijuana businesses will look like, because much of this regulation is left to individual cities and counties. Aside from designating sensitive uses such as schools, parks and transit centers, and then mandating a buffer zone (likely 1,000 feet) for marijuana businesses, the state of Oregon does not tend to involve itself extensively in zoning regulations.

This last election, a group of activists calling themselves New Approach Oregon wrote an initiative called Measure 91. Following the dictates of the Oregon Constitution, they got state approval for their marijuana legalization language, collected enough signatures, placed it on the ballot, and won with 56 percent of the statewide vote. Oregon passed marijuana legalization with the greatest level of support of any of the four states that have legalized so far.

But this past weekend it was announced that the legislature will radically alter that statewide legalization in such a way that half the state of Oregon will still prohibit marijuana.