WW: Is it time to legalize pot in Oregon?

PORTLAND, Ore. – Any local resident will tell you that Oregon has a “green” reputation.

However, that colorful tag isn’t all due to the fields full of wind turbines and the legions of cyclists plying city streets.

Oregon is also known for people who grow lots of green leafy – and potent - pot plants.

It was a telling moment during President Barack Obama’s online “town hall” Q&A meeting shortly after his inauguration that he mentioned off the top that one persistent question he received about solving the budget crisis was the legalization – and taxation – of marijuana.

While the President quickly dismissed the idea, politicians in cash-strapped states in the Western U.S. have not been so quick to write off legalizing pot, which has traditionally been a political non-starter and career killer.

California’s top official, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said while he was not ready to make such a drastic move, he did say it was a topic that should be discussed.

Financial experts have calculated that taxes from marijuana sales could bring in billions of dollars in California, making it a tempting target for a state looking at a $40+ billion chasm of a budget deficit.

At the same time, brutal drug-related violence in Mexico that has at times spilled over the border has many U.S. residents rethinking the long-running “war on drugs” that has resulted in big prison populations but no discernible dent in the supply of pot and other controlled substances on the street.

Is it time to legalize and regulate pot along the same lines as alcohol? Is now the time for medical marijuana advocates and legalization backers to make their move and get a measure on the ballot?

Could Oregon, a state known for taking risks, be the first to legalize and tax what has long been called “the evil weed?” How much money could pot put in state coffers?

In association with a story from the Boston Phoenix, Portland’s Willamette Week newspaper took the pulse of Oregon lawmakers on the topic of legalizing cannabis and looked hard at the numbers.

You can read the full story here and in the pages of Willamette Week.