Pot's Legal: Multnomah County Prosecutors Are Done Pursuing Marijuana Charges—Even Before Measure 91 Kicks In

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It has not even been a week since you legalized recreational marijuana, Oregon, and there aren't actually any changes to the state's marijuana laws until next July.

But that doesn't matter, because Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill says he's done prosecuting any crimes that will become legal in eight months.

"This office does not plan to prosecute future charges for conduct related to marijuana possession and delivery of marijuana which will become lawful under Measure 91 absent exceptional circumstances," the district attorney's office said in a brand new release.

If you've got an outstanding charge for pot-related lawlessness, that's probably going away, too. The DA's office says it's got 21 active cases related to marijuana "where some of the charges associated with the conduct alleged will be decriminalized as of July 1, 2015." Just three of those are crimes, since Oregon's treated low-level possession as a violation, akin to a traffic ticket, for decades. The DA's office says there are also 29 warrants involving marijuana, 23 of them for violations.

So basically, any ongoing prosecution will be tossed, so long as it falls under Measure 91. It's still unclear how Portland police are going to react to Measure 91—a spokesman says the bureau will wait on an opinion of the city attorney. But even if the cops were to continue arrests up until July, you almost certainly won't be prosecuted.

A quick reminder: Under Measure 91, it's legal to possess up to an ounce of marijuana on your person (but not to smoke in public). In your home, you can possess up to eight ounces of pot, grow four plants, and keep up to a pound of marijuana edibles, and 72-ounces of "marijuana-infused liquid."

Purchasing pot won't be formally legal in the state until the Oregon Liquor Control Commission establishes a regulatory framework, which it has to do by early 2016, and there's no indication authorities would leave marijuana dealers alone.

If you'd like to go by the book, though, you can cross the Columbia River to sample Washington's insanely expensive marijuana market.

The state's district attorneys were united in their opposition of Measure 91, along with Oregon's sheriffs and many addiction specialists. But that opposition proved tiny against a pro-pot camaign that drew millions of dollars from across the country, and put much of its effort into getting young people to hand in their ballots. Polls in the run-up to November 4's election indicated the vote might be incredibly close, but Measure 91 was called early on.

Update, 2 pm: Sources in Clackamas County say District Attorney John Foote will adopt a similar policy to Multnomah County's in coming weeks.

Here's the full release from Underhill's office.

This office has reviewed all open marijuana cases in light of the passage of Ballot Measure 91. There are a total of 21 open cases where some of the charges associated with the conduct alleged will be decriminalized as of July 1, 2015 when the Measure becomes law. 18 of these cases have charges which are violations—-the equivalent of a traffic ticket. The remaining three are charged as crimes. Additionally, there are currently 29 cases in warrant status that are similarly situated. Of these 29 cases, 23 are charged as violations.



Because it is clear that a significant majority of voters in Multnomah County support the legalization of marijuana in certain amounts, this office will dismiss the pending charges related to conduct which will otherwise become legal July 1, 2015. Any remaining charges not impacted by Ballot Measure 91 will be prosecuted.



This office does not plan to prosecute future charges for conduct related to marijuana possession and delivery of marijuana which will become lawful under Measure 91 absent exceptional circumstances.