Bend City Councilors will be making local rules that impact the time, place, and manner in which recreational marijuana is grown, processed, and sold. So we asked them about their past, present, and future marijuana use. Here's what they had to say (or not). Councilors Sally Russell, Nathan Boddie, and Barb Campbell did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Source Weekly: Have you ever consumed marijuana? When, and in what context?
Doug Knight: I don't have any comment regarding my own marijuana use, except to say that I was like every other experimenting college student.
Victor Chudowsky: I can't tell you.
Jim Clinton: I've never been into using marijuana and think it extremely unlikely I ever will. I can't stand any kind of altered consciousness.
Casey Roats: I once had an opponent in a political race offer me some, but no.
SW: Do you currently use marijuana? If not, have you considered it now that it's legal?
VC: None of your business.
CR: I don't use it. However, I wouldn't be opposed to using it for medicinal purposes.
SW: Did you vote yes on Measure 91?
VC: I don't remember.
JC: I never say how I voted on measures or candidates—that's my role as a citizen and [has] nothing to do with my role on the City Council. Yes, the voters in Oregon approved legalization and that will reduce some long-standing problems, but we should all realize that it will also cause other problems to get worse. For example, I really don't like kids accessing attractive edibles, especially considering all the other distractions that promote stupidity rather than intelligence. And there will be more stoned drivers to add to our load of drunk drivers. Our job at the City is to establish policies and regulations that mitigate problems while allowing people to do what is legal.
CR: I didn't vote for Measure 91.
SW: Do you have any connections to marijuana-related businesses?
VC: No.
JC: I have no connections, and never will, to any marijuana-related business.
CR: No connections to the industry.
SW: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
VC: You're harshing my mellow with all of these questions. Seriously, the City Council may have to make some land use decisions on marijuana and to be fair I can't go into that with any conflicts or bias one way or another. In land use matters we are a quasi-judicial body. It's a matter of law and fairness so my personal attitudes don't enter into it.
JC: How this will all play out is uncertain, but it clearly is a big social experiment. Past government approaches to marijuana have been mostly dumb—let's hope this is a change for the better.
CR: I would only add that my hope is that the legalization of marijuana will hurt the black market business and that it could help to reduce the stigma and/or allure of the product to young people who really shouldn't be smoking it in great quantities at a young age.
