November's Opt-out Election: Voters' perceived harm by legal cannabis rollout
Jackson County capitalizing on the influx of psychedelic wellness tourism and having access to nearby psychedelic retreats is dependant on the November election. The County Commission referred an opt-out measure to voters due to an allowance for county and municipal prohibition under 2020's Ballot Measure 109. The County may end up opting out as it was a very close election in 2020 with only 51.19% voting yes. The under vote was only 3% of the total votes cast, illustrating the interest in this particular ballot measure.
"As advocates we may be spending too much time addressing the merits of psychedelic therapy and not focusing enough on the operational impact on these rural communities," Arnold opined. "Based on the conversations we have had with local voters, the efficacy of mushrooms is not their point of contention. They are most worried about the impact on their neighborhoods.
"Jackson County voters often feel that they were sold a bill of goods with the previous two controlled substances ballot measures. They were told that Oregon's recreational cannabis laws would help curtail black market trade. That ended up not being the case as we have seen with the recent cartel activity and the potential forced labor trafficking resulting from it."
Rural residents also didn't see much of the economic benefits promised beyond employment, since Oregon's recreational cannabis ballot measure didn't allow county governments to tax cannabis farms. They could only be taxed at the dispensary level. Since most dispensaries are located in cities, they received most of the law enforcement hassle with the farms and the increased vehicular traffic on rural roads and the now ubiquitous smell, but little of the tax benefits.
Fast forward to the implementation of Oregon's ground-breaking BM 110, which decriminalized hard drugs such as cocaine, meth and heroin. "Since Oregon has been slow to implement the treatment that was promised in that ballot measure, many rural Oregonians believe they have suffered from increased crime resulting from the now more open and notorious use of hard drugs in their communities," stated Arnold. "They often believe that the increased demand resulting from the decrease in legal risk from consumption has led to an increase in supply and the criminal consequences of that trade. The increased supply to meet this increased demand has to come from somewhere and it isn't some bucolic farm - it's from drug dealers with organized crime connections.
"Fortunately, these fears are not applicable to BM 109. First of all, this is a services industry not a product industry. The mushroom cultivation will be small and indoors with no smell, marginal water consumption, and no impact on the neighbors. Furthermore, there's no incentive for black market growers to seek a license since it would draw unwanted attention to them. You can already grow undetected in a closet in a rented apartment. Contrast this to cannabis grows which require lots of space, lots of water, lots of staff, and lots of sunshine or electricity. Also, black market operators using Oregon's cannabis law as cover were sending surplus or chemically tainted product out the backdoor to the black market. This simply is not a feasible business model for BM 109.
"Additionally, our experience operating legal retreats in Jamacia is that these have about as much community impact as a yoga or quilting retreat. They are centered around introspection through meditation, self-reflection, journaling, and group integration. The community impact is just not comparable to the effects of cannabis."
