American Notes Oregon

Stirred up by President and Mrs. Reagan, antidrug sentiment in America is running at its highest level in a generation. How high will be tested in Oregon in November, when voters will decide on Ballot Measure 5: Should marijuana be legalized for personal use? The Oregon Marijuana Initiative has spent about $50,000 promoting the proposition and helping collect the 87,000 signatures necessary to place it on the ballot. John Sajo, 30, the group's director, admits, "We're fighting the general drug hysteria," but hopes Oregon's voters will approve the measure, which would allow consumption of pot in homes and its cultivation by individual growers.

By some estimates, marijuana, with a potential street value of $2,000 a plant, is Oregon's largest cash crop. Yet polls show that the proposition is unlikely to pass. Legalizing pot, opponents argue, would make it harder to fight abuse of other drugs and would turn Oregon into America's largest distributor of the weed.