SALEM, Ore. — After months of negotiations and right before recreational pot becomes legal, Oregon House legislators passed a bill Wednesday setting up the state’s legal marijuana market.
The measure creates regulations for medical and recreational marijuana, and includes a compromise allowing local jurisdictions to opt out of legalization.
Members of a joint committee tasked with implementing Measure 91 had previously deadlocked on the issue of local control, and the measure stalled for weeks while lawmakers worked out an agreement.
Counties or cities that voted against Measure 91 can choose to bar sales of marijuana if at least 55 percent of their residents opposed the ballot measure in last year’s election. Other counties would have to put the issue of banning pot sales to a vote.