Josephine County is suing the state over Oregon’s laws allowing recreational and medical cannabis.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Medford, is an attempt by one of the state’s largest marijuana-producing counties to win power to regulate cannabis production as it struggles with limited public safety resources. But the case could have far wider implications.
The county is essentially asking a federal judge to delegitimize Oregon’s cannabis laws—two ballot measures approved by voters and regulatory legislation passed by state lawmakers—because they conflict with stricter federal drug laws.
The federal government regulates marijuana through the Controlled Substance Act, which lists cannabis as a schedule 1 drug and thus illegal to possess, distribute or grow.
A spokeswoman for Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, who is named as a defendant in the suit, says her office is still reviewing the lawsuit and won’t comment on pending litigation. But the attorney general’s office says Rosenblum “will defend the state laws of Oregon related to legal marijuana.”
Read the lawsuit here:
Josephine County v. State of Oregon by sandydocs on Scribd
Top Image: © Alexey Novikov | Adobe Stock
