Marijuana Dispensaries in Oregon Have Opened Their Doors to Recreational Users

At the stroke of midnight, as Wednesday turned to Thursday, eager customers started purchasing recreational marijuana from dispensaries in Oregon two months after the state passed a law allowing medical marijuana dispensaries to sell recreational marijuana to adults who are 21 and over. Voters legalized cannabis through a statewide ballot last November.

The law, which Democratic Governor Kate Brown signed in July, is a stop-gap measure to curb black-market sales while Oregon lawmakers devise rules and regulations for a wider recreational market.

Pot sales in Oregon are the latest reflection of the country's shifting approach to marijuana, as legalization efforts move forward in a growing number of states despite the plant's federal classification as an illegal drug. The use of cannabis for medicinial purposes is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia, but it is still categorized as a Schedule I controlled substance by the federal government, defined as a dangerous drug with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.

Under the ballot initiative that passed last year, people who are at least 21 years old can possess up to eight ounces of smokable marijuana (one of which can be carried in public) and four plants in their home. People can freely smoke marijuana in private, but driving while high remains illegal and weed cannot be transported out of the state, including to neighboring Washington, where recreational use has been legal since last year.

The new law permitting medical marijuana outlets to begin early recreational sales came as a surprise to many of the 345 dispensaries within the state, of which more than 200 had applied to the government for approval to begin recreational sales on Thursday.

"It's going to be extremely busy," Shane McKee, co-owner of a cannabis dispensary told local KOIN 6 News on Wednesday. "We thought we had until third quarter next year, and here we are third quarter this year."

Marijuana sales will not be taxed until January, at which point sellers will face a 25 percent state tax which will then drop to between 17 and 20 percent. The state is expecting to bring in more than $10 billion dollars of revenue from marijuana sales over the next two years.

A poll conducted by the Pew Research Center this year showed that 53 percent of Americans surveyed think that marijuana should be legalized, a rise of 11 points from 2010 to 2013.

In addition to Oregon, residents in the District of Columbia, Colorado, Washington, and Alaska have legalized recreational marijuana.