Officials at the Oregon Health Authority will have to decide soon whether medical marijuana cardholders should be allowed to use the drug at dispensaries that will become legal next year under a new state law.
An advisory committee discussed that topic and others at its final meeting yesterday. The state expects to finalize dispensary regulations by next month. They'll take effect in March.
The Oregon Legislature voted earlier this year to allow medical marijuana users to purchase the drug from state-licensed stores.
Some say the stores should be allowed to permit use of the drug because some patients have nowhere else to safely ingest it. Others say a patient wouldn't take a narcotic inside a pharmacy, and medical marijuana dispensaries shouldn't be any different.