Activists have gathered enough signatures to place a citizens' initiative on Portland's November ballot that would remove a cap imposed by the city on the number of marijuana retailers in Portland.
The Portland City Council set a 20 license cap on retail marijuana stores, for both medical and adult use.
“We think ultimately voters, patients and consumers should be the ones that choose which businesses succeed or fail rather than having the city manager pick winners and losers,” says advocate David Boyer.
The city has set up a system which awards points to applicants in a number of categories. Boyer says he thinks the scoring system is tilted toward larger companies.
“We're concerned that the big corporations and out of state interests will be privy to those licenses first and prevent the little guy from even trying, and that's what this initiative is all about. It's about the right to try.” The initiative would also reduce the buffer between retail stores from 250 feet to 100 feet.
