Oregon Ballot Measure 33 (2004)

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Ballot Measure 33 of 2004 would have expanded Oregon's medical marijuana law, allowing the creation of nonprofit marijuana dispensaries which could sell marijuana to patients, and increasing the maximum amount of marijuana that patients may possess. Voters rejected the measure in the 2 November 2004 general election, 42.8% in favor, and 57.2% against.^[1] The measure was placed on the ballot by initiative petition.

Oregon law allows registered patients to possess and produce limited amounts of marijuana for medical purposes. (Patients must obtain a permit and a doctor's statement that they suffer from a "debilitating medical condition and that the medical use of marijuana may mitigate the symptoms or effects of the person's debilitating medical condition.")^[2] The law does not allow a patient to purchase marijuana for medical purposes, however.

Measure 33 would have expanded the law, allowing the creation of nonprofit state-licensed dispensaries, that could produce the drug and sell it to patients. The dispensaries would have been required to provide the drug to indigent patients for free. If, after six months of the measure's passage, a county lacked a dispensary, the county health division would have been granted a license to open a dispensary.

Measure 33 would also have increased to 6 lb (2.72 kg) the limit of marijuana that the patient may possess.

Supporters of Measure 33 claimed that the current prohibition on marijuana sales to patients hindered their ability to obtain the quantities they need for treatment. They viewed this measure as a responsible solution to that problem. Some opponents argued that the measure was a back door legalization attempt. Some also feared that this expansion would have attracted the ire of the federal government, who would have attempted to shut down the entire Oregon medical marijuana program.

The Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 1085, which took effect on January 1, 2006. The bill raises the quantity of cannabis that authorized patients may possess from seven plants (with no more than three mature) and three ounces of cannabis to six mature cannabis plants, 18 immature seedlings, and 24 ounces of usable cannabis. The bill also change the penalty for exceeding the amount allowed for state-qualified patients. The new guidelines will no longer give patients the ability to argue an "affirmative defense" of medical necessity at trial. Also patients who fail to register with the state, but who possess medical cannabis in amounts compliant with state law, still retain the ability to raise an "affirmative defense" at trial.^[3]