A5
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019
Ban: Mood of city councilors mixed Tiny Micro-Chip Now
In The Ear: Available!
Continued from Page A1
Seaside’s Laura Allen
asked the City Council to
pass an ordinance that would
ban single-use plastic bags
in stores and restaurants, and
get people to use reusable
bags for their purchases.
“We need to stop the fl ow
of plastics, or at least reduce
the fl ow of plastics into
our environment, and we
can start here in Seaside by
replacing the single-use bag
with reusable bags,” Allen
said.
The mood of city council-
ors was mixed.
Councilor Tom Horning
called a plastic bag ban “as
important as the Oregon Bot-
tle Bill or preventing smok-
ing in public spaces . It’s a
life and health issue, and a
lifestyle issue.”
Others sought to know the
impacts on local businesses
and visitors. Councilor Steve
Wright asked for input from
retailers , and to see data that
would be more refl ective of
“Seaside numbers.”
“I do believe we should
be on the forefront, but the
more you make it specifi c to
us, the better,” Wright said.
Brian Owen, the execu-
tive director of the Seaside
Chamber of Commerce, said
he had brought the proposal
to his board. “We would defi -
nitely want a seat at the table,”
he said. “I know the busi-
ness community will have a
lot of questions.”
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AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis
Kroger, the nation’s largest grocery chain, will phase out the
use of plastic bags in its stores by 2025.
At the suggestion of
Mayor Jay Barber, the coun-
cil will hold a workshop to
give the broader community,
including retail merchants,
an opportunity for comment.
If the consensus is to draft
an ordinance, a public hear-
ing would be held before the
ordinance would become
law.
At least one business
owner has signed on.
“We’re ocean people,”
Griffi n said after the meet-
ing. “I feel like we have a
responsibility. We have no
plastic bags. Everything we
have is paper, compostable
— even our take out (pack-
aging) — everything is paper
or cardboard.”
Businesses need an expla-
nation of the benefi ts, he
said, “and then they will
jump on board.”
“We’ve received a lot of
positive feedback,” Grif-
fi n added. “Especially from
kids. They love the fact that
we have paper straws. Peo-
ple see it, they appreciate it
and they keep on coming
back.”
Gearhart is also consider-
ing a plastic bag ban.
At last Wednesday’s
council meeting, City Coun-
cilor Paulina Cockrum asked
for an April work session
on the topic . Whether a ban
would extend to restaurants
and take out food will be a
matter of discussion.
Bebe Michel, an advocate
for a ban, said the city could
model the ordinance on a
similar ban in Bend.
The Bend ordinance
does not include restaurants,
while a similar ordinance
in Manzanita does, which
“has implications as well,”
Michel said.
Cannabis cafes: Club in Portland offers place to smoke
Continued from Page A1
s outheast Portland. She said
tourists come to Oregon
to try marijuana and leave
sadly disappointed.
“And some people didn’t
know that they weren’t
able to smoke in the hotels,
and some people were just
smoking in the street and
they get yelled at for that. So
there isn’t really anywhere
for people to smoke,” said
Kemple.
She said some tourists
end up just smoking in their
hotel rooms and then paying
the no-smoking fi ne.
Kemple says the origi-
nal plans for her business
involved a cafe — so peo-
ple could buy marijuana and
enjoy it on site. The build-
ing’s still plumbed for an
espresso machine. So if the
law changes, she’s ready.
“At some point, we want
to offer, you know, drinks in
the front. And we’re going
to have like seating tables
outside. We want to have
that kind of casual environ-
ment. We’re going to try and
get food trucks outside, and
then maybe offer CBD-in-
fused drinks. Obviously not
psychoactive things yet. But
if we could, we would defi -
nitely go that route,” said
Kemple.
She thinks allowing cus-
tomers to smoke cannabis on
site would boost the bottom
line.
area, outside, out of view of
the public where only people
21 and older could access,”
said Chapman.
Lawmakers at a public
hearing in February balked
at the idea of carving out
an exception to the Indoor
Clean Air Act for cannabis
cafes.
The cafes would give
tourists and other cannabis
consumers a legal place to
get together and smoke.
The cafes also promise
to signifi cantly increase tax
revenues.
Supporters will now wait
to see if the amendment is
enough to convince lawmak-
ers to continue fi ghting for
cannabis cafes.
Regardless of the details
of the bill, some observ-
ers question whether further
changes to Oregon’s canna-
bis laws would attract addi-
tional attention from federal
prosecutors.
Kemple is not worried
about that.
“I think that they already
assume people are smok-
ing it. So I don’t think they
would care where it’s being
smoked at,” said Kemple.
Senate Bill 639 would
do more than just allow can-
nabis cafes. It would allow
sales and consumption at fairs
and concerts. It would allow
home deliveries, and tours at
licensed premises, so bringing
the vineyard tour and tasting
model to the cannabis farm.
‘I MEAN, I DEFINITELY THINK IT
WOULD INCREASE OUR BUSINESS.
PROBABLY MAYBE EVEN TRIPLE
OR FIVE TIMES OUR BUSINESS.’
Sara Kemple | manager of The Dispensary,
a cannabis shop in s outheast Portland
“I mean, I defi nitely think
it would increase our busi-
ness. Probably maybe even
triple or fi ve times our busi-
ness, ” she said.
Indoor air quality
Supporters are hoping to
keep options open for busi-
nesses like The Dispensary
on 52nd while responding
to concerns about indoor air
quality.
Sam Chapman, of the
New Revenue Coalition,
says the group is offering an
amendment to Senate Bill
6 39, which would limit what
customers could consume
inside cafes to non combusti-
ble products — like edibles
and tinctures.
Chapman says they’d
have to go outside to smoke.
“It would be in an enclosed
Cafe proponent Chapman
thinks opening up how can-
nabis can be sold and con-
sumed would allow busi-
nesses to treat it like other
successful craft industries.
“I think the other thing
that this bill stands to do is
increase tax revenue that
is generated, right?” said
Chapman.
“The state took in $82 mil-
lion of cannabis tax revenue
last year.”
In addition, the bill requires
jurisdictions to “ opt-in.” So
cities and counties that don’t
want any part of it, don’t have
to be part of it.
When the bill was dis-
cussed, before the recent
amendment, the strongest
opposition came from leg-
islators like state Sen. Lau-
rie Monnes Anderson, who’s
also a retired public health
nurse.
“We worked so hard to get
the (Indoor Clean Air Act)
and it’s just really dishearten-
ing to think that we are going
to back track,” said Monnes
Anderson.
But Monnes Anderson’s
concerns weren’t limited to
smoke. She argued that more
research needs to be done
on cannabis and its effect
on pregnant women, brain
development and other things
before she’d support cannabis
cafes.
The law is being spon-
sored by Oregon Health &
Science University doctor
Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hay-
ward and Eugene prosecu-
tor Sen. Floyd Prozanski. He
says the bill will be good for
people living in federal hous-
ing, for home deliveries and
site tours of cannabis farms.
“It will, in fact, allow
for retail to be done at spe-
cial events,” said Prozanski.
“I believe it will help with
the tourism, also cannabis
lounges.”
Turmoil
The cannabis industry is
so new and in such turmoil
that few people realized there
is already a place where peo-
ple get together to smoke
cannabis.
It’s called the NW Canna-
bis Club, and it’s in southeast
Portland.
Inside, it’s like an old-
school bar. Customers light
up glass bongs in a variety of
shapes. Music plays through
a thick fug of smoke. Cus-
tomers have to be over 21 and
pay $20 to become a lifetime
member. They have to bring
their own cannabis. Every
time they visit, there’s a $5
fee.
Owner Mike Keysor said
it’s all legal because it’s a pri-
vate club.
“I was open prior to the
changes in the I ndoor C lean
A ir A ct in this state,” he said.
“There were two other clubs
open at the time. Those other
two clubs succumbed to the
pressure and closed. I did
not.”
Keysor said he has been
cited several times for violat-
ing the Indoor Clean Air Act,
but he believes the business is
grandfathered .
Keysor is disgusted he’s
not allowed to sell alcohol or
food, and that he can’t have
any gambling.
“Government needs to let
people alone,” said Keysor.
“You made it legal. You
taxed the living crap out of it.
Just let them smoke pot. Let
them enjoy. A lot of our mem-
bers are older folks. They paid
their dues, they don’t need to
be harassed anymore.”
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