Oregon voters may get a chance in the November 2020 election to make the state's marijuana law even more tolerant for medical and recreational users.

An initiative petition submitted to the Oregon Secretary of State's office on Monday would change how recreational marijuana taxes are distributed and legalize and regulate "cannabis social consumption cafes" and allow users to inhale indoors, with changes made to the Oregon Indoor Clean Air Act.

The petition calls for changes similar to those that have come before state lawmakers in the past, from exporting pot to worker protections for off-the-clock marijuana use.

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"This is about equal rights because whenever you pick a certain group and treat them differently that is discrimination," said Madeline Martinez, a chief organizer of the petition and executive director of the Oregon chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). "Patients, renters, the poor, people of color and women are still marginalized for their cannabis use, despite legalization."

Called the "Legalization Justice Act of 2020," the petition would put employment protections in place for people who engage in off-the-job cannabis use. Under the proposal, people could not be fired for using marijuana off the job unless it impacts their job performance or a collective bargaining agreement prohibits off-duty use.

People with chronic or incurable conditions would be allowed a lifetime card through the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program if a qualifying physician recommends cannabis use. Qualified physicians who can recommend medical marijuana would be expanded to also include naturopaths, physicians assistants and nurse practitioners.

On the social consumption front, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission would regulate cannabis lounges. Existing dispensaries could add social consumption spaces. OLCC-licensed farms could offer tours and tastings.

The OLCC would license and regulate social consumption spaces at public events, under the proposal.

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Sam Chapman is legislative director for the New Revenue Coalition, a group advocating a bill to legalize cannabis cafes. He called the ballot "the obvious next and best step for pushing reasonable cannabis reform forward."

"With 2020 being a presidential election, and with well over 600 retail outlets to help collect signatures from consumers who want legal places to consume a legal product, this initiative will easily qualify for the ballot," Chapman said.

The petition also calls on Oregon to advocate the federal government to allow export craft cannabis products beyond the state's borders.

The petition would designate 25 percent of tax revenues toward community development and lending programs for small businesses in minority communities impacted by what organizers call the "failed War on Drugs." Another 25 percent would go toward subsidizing medical cannabis costs for low-income patients. The state would have the flexibility to spend the remaining 50 percent at its discretion.

The chief petitioners are calling the group the "Oregon Justice League." Besides Martinez, the other two petitioners are Leia Flynn and Angela Bacca.

All of them have ties to the advocating for marijuana. Flynn owns Flight Lounge, a private, members-only cafe in Portland. Bacca is a writer and editor who covered the industry.

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“We are in a situation where we have legalized it and anyone over the age of 21 can purchase it, but you cannot smoke it anywhere unless you own your home,” Flynn said. “That is discrimination.”

To begin the ballot title drafting process, the group will need to submit 1,000 sponsorship signatures to the Secretary of State's office. From there, organizers would need to gather 112,020 signatures for it to qualify for placement on the November 2020 general election ballot, according to the Secretary of State's Office.

Still, the petition doesn't have great prospects, according to Jim Moore, a politics professor at Pacific University.

"Unless people are directly part of the cannabis production and legal-consumption communities, these changes will not seem urgent at all," Moore said in an email. "For most voters, I would imagine, the issue is legalization or non-legalization. The shades of grey in this proposal do not have much resonance.

"There is a real problem with a measure with lots of moving parts being boiled down to a campaign slogan — 'Yes on 110' or 'Vote for Pot Equity' — that encourages voters to make decisions on rather technical changes to a mandate the voters themselves gave the Legislature in early marijuana votes," Moore said.

Contact reporter Ben Botkin at bbotkin@StatesmanJournal.com, 503-399-6687 or follow him on Twitter @BenBotkin1