Oregon Medical Pot Dispensaries Get Ready for Public Sales Thursday

October 1st, the medical marijuana dispensaries in Oregon are going to get a LOT busier. Due to a streamlining of their legal pot law, officials have decided not to make consumers wait until next year when the state stores open.  Medical pot dispensaries will be handling the "need".

As often seen in Oregon, creativity, at least on the West side, is being utilized. Perhaps inspired by hippies, one Portland dispensary is offering a 10% discount on weed to anyone (of legal age 21) who shows up on a skateboard. According to the Seattle Times:

"More than 200 of Oregon’s 345 medical marijuana dispensaries have notified the Oregon Health Authority of plans to sell recreational marijuana starting on Thursday. Though some dispensaries may not qualify right away if they’re still in the application process and haven’t been approved, OHA spokesman Jonathan Modie said."

But there's actually a method to this unconventional approach. Oregon officials, perhaps learning a thing or two from their neighbors to the north (us) are doing this to cut into black market sales. By pricing it competitively, and getting weed into consumer's hands quickly after the measure goes into effect, they will probably not see the black market problem that surfaced in Washington state.

It took officials here nearly twice as long as promised to get the state stores up and running, and due to the ambiguity of I-502, counties and cities can legally pass pot bans within their own jurisdictions.

When the legal pot stores open next year in Oregon, medical dispensaries will go back to just serving those who have doctors papers and cards certifying they are medical marijuana patients.

By the way, the closest pot shops to our region in Oregon are LaGrande (2) and The Dalles. None in Hermiston, Umatilla, Pendleton or any of those surrounding areas. Sorry, dudes!