OREGON: Portland parks officials waited until the day after Oregon’s historic vote to legalize recreational marijuana to mail a letter to organizers of Hempstalk Festival, the free annual event to push for marijuana and hemp legalization.
The letter wasn’t a congratulatory note to founder Paul Stanford. It was a firm denial of his request to hold the 2015 Hempstalk at Portland’s Tom McCall Waterfront Park or any other public property.
“The passage of ballot measure 91 makes no difference in the City’s decision,” Shawn Rogers, Parks Bureau customer service center manager, wrote Wednesday. The denial “stems only from the inability of organizers to manage the event in accordance with the necessary conditions clearly outlined and revisited on multiple occasions.”
What’s the fuss about? As in previous years, according to city officials, attendees consumed marijuana, and organizers were unable or unwilling to intervene.