HHRSHES
YOUR HIGH
NEW TAX ON RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA WILL
BENEFIT OREGON EDUCATION
BY DANI CLIFTON
“A lot of
people
are just
going
back
to the
black
market,
backto
their
guy.”
Last October m any Oregonians had
cause for celebration; for the first
tim e since form er First Lady N an
cy Reagan told us to ‘Just Say N o/
recreational m arijuana was m ade
legally available for purchase, tax
free, from approximately 400 partic
ipating medical dispensaries across
the state.
T ho ugh m ed ical m ariju ana re
m ains tax free, a 25 percent tax was
im p lem en ted on a ll recreatio n al
sales Jan. 4 o f this year, som ething
th a t c a u g h t som e cu sto m ers o ff
guard, and has left a few dispensaries
smoldering.
Ashley Parker, a budtender for Left
Coast Connection, isn ’t a fan o f the
new tax and the effect it’ s had on
her shop. “ A lot o f customers don’t
like the new tax. It’ s catching a lot
o f people by surprise because it’ s
pretty high. We used to have lines
out the door and then the day the tax
hit — we’ re dead. A lot of people are
just going back to the black market,
back to their guy.”
Oregon Bud Company’ s budtender,
A dam V u k e lich , says h e ’ s go tten
n o th in g b u t com p laints since the
implantation of the new recreational
tax, though it hasn’t seemed to de
ter m any custom ers from com ing
through the door. “ W e’re one of the
only dispensaries who m ight have
im plemented the tax into the price
on the fourth. A lot o f dispensaries
ended up adding the tax to the price
before the fourth so that their clien
tele was already familiar with it, so it
w asn’t a shock. Our customers who
were used to havin g pretty m uch
the best deal in town were kind o f
shocked. We are hopeful that taxes
will be relieved, in tim e. W e’re just
happy to have legal m arijuana.”
Private entrepreneur, Joel Sm ith,
sells both medical and recreational
marijuana, and for many people he
is “ their guy.” He has an unlicensed
b a ck -d o o r b u sin e ss, b u t n eith er
Joel nor his business partners see
themselves as drug dealers; instead,
they’ re providing a service. Sm ith
said, “ People need to be able to get
their m edicine, but a lot o f folks are
still extremely fearful about the gov
ernment coming back on them down
the road. They don’t w ant to flash
their driver’ s license in that context
so they come to people like us; they
can get what they need with a good
amount o f anonym ity.”
But not everyone is so eager to
abandon the new ways for the old.
Lisa Bradford, a recreational user,
has purchased from private vendors
for years and doesn’t have an issue
w ith the new tax on recreational
w ares. “ I believe the tax on weed
is a good thing, because 40 percent
o f the revenue will go to education
and 1 am for anything that brings
in funding for our schools. People
are going to pay the same for black
market weed so why not support our
schools, bring back art, music and PE
for elementary kids and u p .”
N ancy Reagan m igh t be ro llin g
over in her grave, but 40 percent o f
recreational marijuana tax revenue
will go to the Com m on School Fund;
20 percent will go to m ental health,
alcoholism and drug services (ORS
430.380); 15 percent to state and local
law enforcement respectively, and 5
percent going to the Oregon Health
Authority.
T hough m ost custom ers w ould
prefer a continuance o f tax-free, le
gal recreational marijuana, the cur
rent tax disbursement plans make it
hard to argue against. Though you
can’t please everyone, Vukelich puts
it best, “ It is what it is .”
Qackamas Print FEBRUARY 10,2016 triedackamaspmtcom S