PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Oregon dispensaries began selling recreational marijuana legally for the first time Thursday as buyers lined up and celebrated across the state.
The legal purchase of recreational weed in Oregon became effective at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, 11 months after it was approved by voter referendum. Until next year, it will only be sold at outlets licensed to sell medical marijuana. Long lines formed at several dispensaries that chose to serve the recreational marijuana trade as soon as they could.
"We're changing the world," said Rich Sterrett, 36, of Tualatin, Ore., the first in line at AmeriCanna RX in Portland. "This is coming from the underground to the light of day."
By midnight, about 75 enthusiastic customers had lined up at the store's front door. In the past several days the store's interior was modified to accommodate recreational marijuana purchasers, and employees received instruction in the legal and procedural differences between selling medicinal and recreational pot. Sales moved slowly at first because of a computer system requiring stores to maintain records of customers' ages and purchases.
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"Why wouldn't I come out to celebrate the legalization of something that shouldn't have been illegal in the first place?" said customer Tim Culpepper, 30, of Portland. "It's a momentous occasion. It's nice to know I can just walk in somewhere and buy [marijuana]."
Although medical marijuana is advertised for sale across the state, local radio and television stations, which are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, will not offer commercials for the recreational marijuana trade. The state's largest newspaper, The Oregonian, said it will accept ads, applying the same restrictions it uses for liquor advertisements. The ads will run in sections of the newspaper catering to adults, and not for example, on pages featuring high school sports.
