6A • August 18, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
Sessions has ‘serious questions’
about Oregon’s cannabis market
Letter to Brown
outlines authority
to enforce
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — U.S. Attorney
General Jeff Sessions has al-
leged that Oregon may be
violating the Obama adminis-
tration’s requirements to keep
marijuana out of the illicit
market.
Sessions sent a letter to
Gov. Kate Brown July 24 reit-
erating the Department of Jus-
tice’s authority to enforce the
federal ban on marijuana and
highlighting ways in which
Oregon may have failed
to comply with the “Cole
memo.”
The memo, issued in 2013,
represents the Obama admin-
istration’s policy not to prose-
cute the state legalized market
provided that the state has a
robust regulatory system that
prevents leakage of the drug
into the illicit market. Thus
far, the Trump administration
has honored the policy.
The attorney general stated
that an Oregon State Police re-
port in January raised “serious
questions about the efficacy of
marijuana ‘regulatory struc-
tures’” in the state. He added
that the Cole memo does not
preclude the Department of
Justice from investigating or
prosecuting violations of the
federal prohibition.
“Congress has determined
that marijuana is a dangerous
drug and that the illegal distri-
bution and sale of marijuana
is a crime,” Sessions wrote.
“The department remains
committed to enforcing the
Controlled Substances Act in
a manner that efficiently ap-
plies our resources to address
the most significant threats to
public health and safety.”
Sessions, a longtime mar-
ijuana foe, did not specify
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has written a letter to
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown alleging the state has not done
enough to keep its regulated marijuana out of illicit chan-
nels. Sessions reiterated his authority to investigate and
prosecute violations of federal marijuana laws.
how he intended to act on his
authority to enforce the ban.
Lauren Ehrsam, a Department
of Justice spokeswoman, de-
clined further comment on
the purpose of the letter and
the attorney general’s plans to
address the concerns outlined
in the letter.
Brown’s office did not re-
spond Tuesday to multiple
messages seeking comment
on the letter.
Sessions wrote almost
identical letters to the gov-
ernors of Washington state
and Colorado, according to
a report by Slate on Mon-
day. Oregon, Washington
state and Colorado represent
only three of the eight states
that have legalized pot for
recreational use, raising the
question whether the federal
government plans to prioritize
its resources toward cracking
down on the industry in those
three states.
Illicit cultivation
Only about 30 percent of
marijuana market activity in
Oregon complies with state
regulation, according the Or-
egon State Police report.
“There is ‘pervasive illic-
it cannabis cultivation in the
state … (and) a strong indi-
cation that surplus cannabis
is not discarded, but is in fact
trafficked out-of-state and
sold for a huge profit mar-
gin,’” Sessions wrote, quoting
the report.
The cost and rate of burn
victims from marijuana oil
extraction labs and marijua-
na-related emergency room
visits have spiked since legal-
ization, he stated.
Meanwhile, underage us-
ers represent a majority of
cannabis impairment cases on
Oregon roadways, according
to drug recognition data from
2013 to 2015, he wrote.
About 63 percent of Ore-
gon adults don’t know wheth-
er it’s legal to drive after using
pot, he added.
A federal task force con-
vened to devise a legal strat-
egy to enforce the federal ban
on cannabis concluded that
the Department of Justice
should continue the policy of
the Obama administration, ac-
cording to a Thursday report
by The Associated Press.
The state Legislature ear-
lier this year passed sever-
al laws aimed at preventing
product leakage into the ille-
gal market and fortifying the
industry against federal back-
lash. For instance, one new
law requires medical cannabis
producers undergo the same
stringent seed-to-sale track-
ing of products that the recre-
ational industry has been sub-
ject to since legal recreational
sales began in 2015. Another
law orders the creation of a
state hotline where authorities
can verify whether a grow site
is registered or licensed with
the local and state govern-
ment.
“Anything we can do to
cut off leakage … would put
us in a stronger position” with
the federal government, state
Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Port-
land, co-chairwoman of the
legislative marijuana regula-
tion committee, said in May.
Jobs, tax revenue
Oregon’s legal marijuana
industry sustains 12,500 jobs
and yields a projected $105
million in annual recreational
marijuana tax revenue, used to
support public education and
services, according to a white
paper by Rep. Ann Lininger,
D-Lake Oswego, who served
on the marijuana regulation
committee until July. Lininger
has resigned from the Legis-
lature and is set to be sworn
in this month as a Clackamas
County Circuit Court judge.
Twenty-nine states, the
District of Columbia and the
U.S. territories of Guam and
Puerto Rico allow cannabis
use for medical conditions.
Another 17 states permit lim-
ited use of cannabidiol, or
CBD, the nonpsychoactive
element in marijuana.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Astoria U.S. Bank employees Ashley Camp, Dylan Mitch-
ell, Jeremiah Wright; Way to Wellville Strategic Council
member Debbie Morrow; and Clatsop Kids Go Coordina-
tor Sarah Brown.
US Bank supports
Clatsop Kids Go
U.S. Bank gave a $3,500
grant to The Way to Well-
ville’s Clatsop Kids Go
program for cultural and ed-
ucational activities. The in-
school program is designed
to help kids develop healthy
behaviors and positive atti-
tudes around physical activ-
ity, nutrition and well-being.
The funds will be used to
hire a cultural event coordi-
nator and for field trips. Last
year, students in the program
visited the Seaside Museum
and Fort Clatsop National
Historical Park, where they
enjoyed a presentation by
Roberta Basch on Native
American customs.
DINING
on the
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Boone, Bonamici discuss energy,
environment in Cannon Beach
Appearance
at Chamber
of Commerce
breakfast
By Brenna Visser
Seaside Signal
COLIN MURPHEY/THE DAILY ASTORIAN
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici speaks to an audience of the first
Community Leaders Commercial Fisheries tour in June.
State Rep.
Deborah
Boone
speaks to
Cannon
Beach resi-
dents at the
Chamber of
Commerce,
Aug. 8.
BRENNA VISSER/
SEASIDE SIGNAL
Cannon Beach Chamber of
Commerce’s monthly commu-
nity breakfast meeting.
Bonamici discussed en-
vironmental and emergency
preparedness-related bills she
had worked on this year in
Congress, including a marine
debris bill that would provide
a funding source for research
and cleanup.
The congresswoman also
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State Rep. Deborah Boone
on Tuesday, Aug. 7, praised
a bill approved by the Leg-
islature that allows electric-
ity produced from an ocean
wave-technology test site at
Camp Rilea in Warrenton to be
used to power the site.
Boone, a strong supporter
of wave technology as renew-
able energy for the Oregon
Coast, said initial tests con-
ducted last summer showed
promise for future growth in
the industry.
The test site, funded by the
Oregon Wave Energy Trust,
was introduced three years ago
and faced initial skepticism
about impacts to crabbing and
fishing industries, as well as
ocean aesthetics. So far, Boone
said, she has not been made
aware of any negative environ-
mental impacts.
“When we have a Cascadia
event, we will not have power.
We aren’t talking for three to
five weeks — we are thinking
three to five years,” Boone
said. “So we will be relying on
local energy.”
Boone, D-Cannon Beach,
and U.S. Rep. Suzanne
Bonamici, D-Oregon, dis-
cussed legislative priorities
and answered questions at the
celebrated the bipartisan sup-
port for legislation that would
help improve weather fore-
casts and storm warnings.
Bonamici came to Cannon
Beach to talk about local is-
sues, but also faced questions
from the audience on national
topics like immigration policy,
the Paris climate agreement
and what it is like to be in Con-
gress during the Trump admin-
istration.
The Cannon Beach City
Council voted recently on a
resolution to support the Par-
is accord, despite President
Donald Trump’s decision to
withdraw. Mayor Sam Steidel
asked Bonamici what kind
of impacts small cities could
make with resolutions like
these. “It’s been heard,” she
said, adding that any support
helps when she still spends
a significant portion of time
debating the existence of cli-
mate change with some of her
House colleagues.
Bonamici said she has been
seeing record turnout at town
hall meetings, often filled with
inquiries about “polarization”
in Washington, D.C.
“There are concerns about
the Trump administration
on both sides of the aisle,”
Bonamici said. “But there are
still lots of bipartisan efforts in
the House.”
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