Marijuana Legalization Campaigns in Final Push to Make November Ballot

Paul Stanford was pushing two initiatives to legalize recreational marijuana
By KATE WILLSON

With less than three weeks to go before the filing deadline, two competing pro-cannabis camps are ramping up efforts to gather signatures for three ballot initiatives that would legalize the use of recreational marijuana. 

Here's a look at how they're doing:

Initiative Petition 53 is the most restrictive of the three initiatives and has garnered the most support from potential voters. The New Approach Oregon campaign reported Friday that it has gathered 90,000 signatures and raised more than $900,000, according to campaign finance records.The initiative must gather 87,213 valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

Initiative Petition 21 is one of two initiatives by Paul Stanford, a Portlander who has put forward marijuana legalization measures for nearly 30 years. This initiative, Help End Marijuana Prohibition in Oregon, would amend the state constitution to allow adults to grow and use recreational marijuana. The campaign requires 116,284 signatures, and so far they have gathered about 40,000.

The campaign has raised about $160,000, according to campaign financial reports filed with the Oregon Secretary of State. Virtually all the funding has come from Stanford's Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp and a Texas-based lobbying group called the Foundation for Constitutional Protection, which has for years supported Oregon efforts to legalize marijuana. 

[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE Initiative Petition 22 is Stanford's second proposed measure. The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act would make it legal to grow, use and tax marijuana for recreational use. The campaign reports having gathered about 40 percent of the 87,213 signatures they need to make the ballot. And the initiative has raised about $65,000 for the effort, also almost entirely from the Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp.EndFragment

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