Ron at Portland cannabis conference: "You are on the right side of history”

Ron said at the Oregon Cannabis Association’s conference last week that the Trump administration must respect the decision by voters in Oregon and other states to legalize marijuana.

In his remarks kicking off the “Future of Cannabis” conference in Portland, Ron said he is fighting Trump efforts to reverse the job-creating growth of the cannabis industry in states where marijuana is legal.

“This administration believes in ‘states rights’ only when it thinks the state is right,” he said. “What we have is the Trump administration saying it doesn’t respect Oregonians’ vote and they’re going to trample on our vote. … It is time for us to call them out on their hypocrisy.”

Along with U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer in the House, Ron has introduced the Path to Marijuana Reform Act, which includes provisions to treat state-legal marijuana businesses in the tax code like other small businesses and to shrink the gap between federal and state marijuana policies.

As the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, Ron also is a co-sponsor of Sen. Cory Booker’s Marijuana Justice Act.  This bill would legalize marijuana at the federal level and provide incentives to states through federal funds to change their marijuana laws if marijuana still is illegal in the state and the state disproportionately arrests or incarcerates low-income individuals or people of color for marijuana-related offenses.

He told those attending the cannabis conference that he believed their views would ultimately prevail, thanks to common sense about the economic and medicinal potential of marijuana.

“You are part of a grass-roots movement literally and figuratively providing a boost to the Oregon economy,” he said. “The march goes on – you are on the right side of history.”