News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
POT
opportunity ... to say Grant
County wants to allow grow-
ing of marijuana, growing in
a process that Grant County
governs and decides and con-
trols.”
On Dec. 14, Burns said, al-
though the county cannot di-
rectly tax marijuana growers,
Chalice Farms would volun-
teer to pay a 3-percent fee to
the county.
Continued from Page A1
any of the state tax revenue
unless all four recreational
marijuana business categories
are allowed, but it has been
mentioned in committee hear-
ings as something to discuss
further.
Chiapella said a county or
city may charge a 3-percent
local tax but only on retail
marijuana sales — not grow-
ing, processing or wholesale
operations.
Eagle photos/Sean Hart
Arguments for the ban
In June, Ferrioli sponsored
legislation allowing govern-
ments to opt out of commer-
cial operations by Dec. 27
if at least 55 percent of that
county’s votes were against
legalizing marijuana in 2014.
The bill also allowed the gov-
ernments to enact a temporary
ban and refer the matter to the
voters in November 2016 for
a ¿nal decision.
At the second hearing on
the ordinance to opt out — or
ban commercial operations —
Grant County Commissioner
Boyd Britton, speaking as a
citizen, said he believed the
county should enact the ban
while it has the opportunity.
“If we don’t do it now, we
can never revisit it,” Britton
said, adding the county could
opt back in later.
Britton said he did not be-
lieve marijuana operations
would be bene¿cial for the
community. Kimberly resi-
dent Leon Skiles said he con-
curred with Britton.
Larry Vote, who owns a
ranch in Kimberly, pointed out
marijuana is still considered
illegal by the federal govern-
ment. He said people can al-
ready grow and use marijuana
for personal use, and he did
not believe commercial oper-
ations were necessary.
Sharon Livingston, Long
Creek, said the percentage of
county residents who voted
against legalization in 2014
was signi¿cant and that the
Tom Burns, who supervised the medical marijuana
program for the Oregon Health Authority and spent
six months directing the recreational program for
the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, answers
questions from the County Commissioners at
a public hearing about banning commercial
marijuana operations at the Dec. 9 Grant County
Court meeting.
county should at least give the
voters the opportunity to en-
act a ban in 2016.
County Judge Scott My-
ers said all eight counties ad-
jacent to Grant County had
passed similar bans, and he
did not want the county to be
known as the hub for com-
mercial marijuana.
No one else at the hearing
argued pot operations should
be banned, but many said the
county should allow at least
some form of commercial op-
erations.
Arguments against the
ban on growing
Several people at the hear-
ing stated their only request
was for the county to allow
the growing of marijuana —
not retail sales. Jerry Russell,
Kimberly, and Paul Cooper,
Monument, who spoke at
the ¿rst hearing, reiterated
their concerns that the county
should not prohibit them from
growing a crop the state con-
siders legal on their land.
Before the hearing, Tom
Burns, who supervised the
medical marijuana program at
the Oregon Health Authority
and spent six months direct-
ing the recreational marijua-
na program for the Oregon
Liquor Control Commission,
sent a letter to Myers on be-
half of Portland-based mar-
ijuana-growing
company
Chalice Farms. He wrote the
farm supported the ban on re-
tailers, processors and whole-
salers, but the company has
been legally growing medical
marijuana in Grant County
and desired to grow recre-
ational pot as well.
Burns attended the Dec. 9
hearing and answered ques-
tions from the commission-
ers. He said the law requires
24-hour video surveillance of
grow sites and access roads
and that police can enter the
properties at any time with-
out notice. He said outdoor
sites are limited to one acre
and must be fully enclosed by
a fence at least eight feet tall.
He said OLCC will not grant
a growing license unless the
county has approved a land
use compatibility statement,
for which the county can add
additional stipulations, such
as security and size require-
ments.
Burns said, in Portland, the
application fee for the state-
Janet Phillips says she
uses medical marijuana
to treat glaucoma and
diabetic neuropathy.
She says the
commissioners don’t
seem to understand
the medical uses of
marijuana.
ment alone is $4,000. Burns
said, with a 3-percent tax, the
county could collect about
$58,500 per acre of marijua-
na grown annually, based on
conservative estimates. He
said Chalice Farms owns four
tax lots in Grant County, each
of which could have a one-
acre site. Further, he said each
site would require about ¿ve
full-time employees — each
of whom must pass a state
background check — with
an annual salary of about
$25,000 each.
“Chalice Farms is going
to sell their product in Port-
land and on the west side,” he
said. “What you have in front
of you now is an economic
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Arguments against the
ban on medical marijuana
Canyon City resident
Jerry Barrow said, with the
amount of time at the hear-
ing devoted to marijuana
growing, the forum appeared
to be driven by special inter-
ests.
“You’re throwing the
medical patients under the
bus,” he said.
At the previous hearing,
Barrow argued many older
marijuana patients would be
forced to travel to Bend to
procure their medicine if the
county did not allow medical
dispensaries.
Janet Phillips said she
uses medical marijuana to
treat glaucoma and diabet-
ic neuropathy. She said she
must receive an annual veri-
fication of her illness from a
doctor to qualify for medical
marijuana.
“You just don’t under-
stand the medical side of it,”
she said. “I don’t take it so
I can get so high I can see
unicorns. I take it for glau-
coma.”
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Arguments against the
ban on dispensaries
Canyon City resident Eva
Harris said, although she was
a medical marijuana user, she
was not there to argue on her
own behalf. She said mari-
juana is easily accessible by
young people in school but
the unregulated and untested
substance can be dangerous.
If marijuana dispensaries
were allowed, she said, the
drug would be safer because it
would be tested for mold and
pesticides.
“We tried prohibition,”
she said. “People did not stop
drinking alcohol. They made
it and poisoned themselves.”
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