SALEM -- State lawmakers scrounging for money for schools, mental health and public safety could find the solution to their funding woes to be green.

No, not more cold, hard cash, but pot.

That's the plan under

, which is scheduled for an April 2 public hearing in the

.

The bill would allow the production, processing and sale of marijuana and marijuana-infused products. Individuals 21 or older would be allowed to keep up to six mature marijuana plants and 24 ounces of marijuana at a time, the

Under the bill, the

would be charged with licensing marijuana producers, processors, wholesalers and retailers.

The

would oversee taxation of marijuana, according to the bill. Marijuana producers would be taxed $35 per ounce. The money would go to a "Cannabis Tax Account," with 40 percent of proceeds going to schools and 20 percent each to Oregon State Police, the general fund, and services for mental health, alcoholism and drugs.

The bill would go into effect July 1, 2014.

Washington and Colorado already allow the legal use of marijuana. It remains illegal under federal law.

"Soon, we may have our neighbor to the north collecting tax revenue from Oregon residents, when Oregon should be collecting that revenue," said

, director of

. "Marijuana is safer than alcohol, and it makes sense to regulate it like alcohol."

Johnson said the coalition includes

of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and Paul Stanford, the man behind November's unsuccessful

.

If the bill doesn't pass this year, Johnson said the coalition would seek to place an initiative on the November 2014 ballot.

"We believe that with changing demographics, the fact that Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana, the fact that

, that 2014 might be a possible venue to legalize marijuana at the ballot box," he said.

Another pro-legalization group, the

, is prepared to place an initiative legalizing pot on the 2016 ballot, said Roy Kaufmann, the group's Oregon representative.

House Speaker

, D-Portland, said she is interested in exploring the possibilities the bill offers but wondered aloud whether it's too "complex" to get through this Legislature.

"Maybe it's something we start this session" but finish in 2014, she said. "That's a pretty big lift for us. I don't think we could get it done this session."

It's unclear which lawmaker introduced the bill. It was introduced as a

bill, but the committee chairman, Rep.

, D-Eugene, said he doesn't know which legislator was behind it.

Nevertheless, he said he thinks the Legislature should look at it.

It has become "quite obvious" that the status quo of prohibiting marijuana "is about to change, whether we like it or not," he said.

"We'd better make sure the system we have in place is protecting kids and is built in such a way that you have regulatory capacity," he said. "If we can manage it, I'd like some tax revenue out of it."

The bill says it is intended to direct the state's limited law enforcement resources more constructively and to eliminate the problems caused by the prohibition and uncontrolled manufacture, delivery and possession of marijuana.

Many law enforcement officials oppose legalization.

"Oregon sheriffs are opposed to the measure and will be active in the legislative process opposing it," said

, who declined further comment.

House Bill 3371 would not prevent employers from prohibiting the manufacture, delivery, possession or use of marijuana in the workplace.

It would allow the

to issue industrial hemp licenses and agricultural hemp seed production permits.

Hemp is a non-narcotic cousin of marijuana. The United States is the world's largest consumer of hemp, which is used in a wide variety of products. But it remains the only major industrialized country that bans farming the product.

In Congress, Oregon's two Democratic senators,

and

, are pushing

.



Harry Esteve of The Oregonian staff contributed to this story.

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