Oregon bill to legalize pot lounges is '100% dead,' advocate says

Oregonians won't be smoking joints or noshing on pot-infused gummies at legal cannabis lounges anytime soon.

A bill to legalize cannabis lounges is "100% dead," said Sam Chapman, legislative director for the New Revenue Coalition, the group behind Senate Bill 639. He declined to comment further.

The last major legislative action taken on the bill was a public hearing before the Senate Committee on Business and General Government at the end of February. Since then, the deadline to vote the bill out of committee has passed.

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Legal pot lounges aren't unheard of in the U.S. The Las Vegas City Council this month OK'd marijuana consumption lounges, also known as social use venues, under certain conditions. For example, the locations have to be at least 1,000 feet from schools and casinos. Las Vegas officials don't expect any lounges to open for several months.

An initiative petition submitted to the Oregon Secretary of State's Office in March may allow Oregon residents to vote on legalizing cannabis social consumption cafes in the November 2020 election. Chapman at the time said the ballot was "the obvious next and best step for pushing reasonable cannabis reform forward."

Under Oregon's Senate Bill 639, cannabis lounges would have been regulated by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, and those wishing to operate a lounge would have had to obtain a license from the commission. Oregon lounges also could not have been located within 1,000 feet of public elementary or secondary schools.

Proponents argued cannabis lounges would give the economy a boost and add more tax revenue from cannabis sales to Oregon's schools, addiction services and law enforcement agencies.

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"We know that every day in Oregon, individuals are using cannabis on the sidewalk, in cars, in parks, and other public or non-legal spaces," Chapman wrote in testimony to state lawmakers in February.

"While creating legal consumption spaces may not completely prevent this practice, individuals that choose to use in those public places cannot use the excuse that they have no other option," he wrote.

Jonathan Bach has been a business and City Hall reporter with the Statesman Journal since 2016. To support his work, Subscribe to the Statesman Journal. Contact him by email at jbach@statesmanjournal.com, call (503) 399-6714 or follow him on Twitter @jonathanmbach.