New Approach Oregon to submit signatures

New Approach Oregon leaders gathered outside the Multnomah County Courthouse on June 26 to announce they would submit 145,000 signatures to the Oregon secretary of state.

(Ian Kullgren/The Oregonian)

Sponsors of the marijuana legalization measure headed to the Oregon ballot have made it clear they intend to focus on mainstream voters.

So it's no surprise that New Approach Oregon's first commercial, released Tuesday, features an 80-year-old retired teacher from Eugene who proclaims right off the bat, "I don't use marijuana."

Margie Harris, who spent 36 years teaching in various school districts around the state, argues in the ad that anti-marijuana laws haven't stopped kids from getting the drug and that marijuana would be better controlled if it was legalized, regulated and taxed.

For now, the ad is appearing only on the Internet. But campaign spokesman Peter Zuckerman said it could soon appear on television in a similar form.

New Approach Oregon, which has received funding and help from many of the supporters of Washington state's successful 2012 marijuana initiative, avoids using marijuana leaf symbols or even the color green. The group last week turned in 145,000 signatures, far more than the 87,213 valid signatures from registered voters needed to qualify for the ballot. Here's the ad:

-- Jeff Mapes