Senate Bill 863 is a proposal from a 10-member bipartisan committee.
The bill cleared the Senate last Tuesday. It will now head to the House for consideration. This proposal will protect the names, birthdates, driver’s license numbers, and any other identifying information of all recreational cannabis customers. It was formulated in a response to the looming federal crackdown on recreational cannabis.
Currently, many Oregon recreational dispensaries are stockpiling their client’s information. The bipartisan committee is trying to set in place practices that will be more similar to those in Alaska, Colorado, and Washington states. If the proposal becomes a law it will give cannabis retailers 30 days to destroy their recreational customer’s data. This data includes driver’s licenses, passports, or military IDs that dispensaries use to identify that their patrons are 21-years-old. After the current data was destroyed retailers would be banned from keeping records of these items moving forward. These provisions will exclude medical marijuana patients.
Senator Ted Ferrioli took to the Senate floor on Tuesday to speak up for the Oregon citizen’s right to privacy. Most retailers claim that they keep this information for marketing purposes only. But Sen. Ferrioli spoke on Tuesday about how collecting this information could harm potential federal employees, out-of-state visitors, and concealed-weapon permit holders.
The stance on cannabis is wavering in the White House. This bill could help to keep the cannabis industry strong despite a federal crackdown on the recreational arm of the industry. With the current message from Spicer and Sessions threatening the industry, it is wise for states to begin creating laws to protect their thriving new market.
Whether or not Sessions cracks down on cannabis, Trump has continued to set an agenda that values state rights. This gives us some hope, and if we can all show up to vote in the midterm election we could possibly regain the majority in the governing bodies.
