OREGON: Marijuana sales for recreational use began in Oregon on Thursday as it joined Washington state and Colorado in allowing the sale of a drug that remains illegal under U.S. federal law.
Oregon residents 21 years and older can buy up to a quarter-ounce (seven grams) of dried pot at roughly 200 existing medical-use marijuana dispensaries as a new law took effect.
Backers hope the law will help curb a flourishing black market, but opponents say it heightens drug use and access by children.
About 40 people lined up outside the medical pot dispensary Shango in a strip mall near Portland International Airport for the chance to buy recreational pot one minute after midnight, when the changes went into effect.
“We came to be part of the experiment,” said Juliano Hamana, 24, in line with his girlfriend.
