MJBiz - September/October 2024 - 51

Labor
Initiative
in Oregon
The United Food and
Commercial Workers (UFCW)
Local 555 in Tigard, Oregon,
qualified a ballot measure that
would allow state-regulated
cannabis retailers and
processors to unionize without
interference from owners.
South Dakota state capitol. Photo by stock.adobe.com/RebeccaDunnLevert
On July 8, New Economic Frontier
submitted 22,444 signatures to
the secretary of state's office, but
it needed only 15,582 of those
signatures to be certified. Election
officials ultimately certified about
19,000 signatures.
North Dakota legalized medical
marijuana in 2016.
However, if voters approve the
proposal, backers " plan to work
with the Legislature to implement
business licensing, tax and other
regulations, " the Associated Press
reported.
Mueller said passing an adult-use
measure " is a little heavier lift " than
passing medical, but he remains
confident.
For one, voters have more
familiarity with legal cannabis
markets than before.
" It's not the big, scary beast it was
South Dakota
Initiated Measure 29
The effort to pass South Dakota's
legalization initiative, which is
known as Measure 29, is led by South
Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws.
According to the National
Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws (NORML), the
proposal allows only limited
cultivation and would not establish
rules and regulations for a
commercial industry.
before. Everybody's kind of seen
that when you set up a medical
program or adult-use program
that kids aren't dying, and it's just
taking away from the illicit market, "
Mueller said.
It also helps that South Dakota
recently banned hemp-derived
THC.
" That's a really big deal. ... Having
delta-8 that's unregulated, that can
be in a convenience store, it gives
the cannabis industry a bad name by
not being regulated or controlled or
The UFCW's proposed
measure would mandate that
Oregon marijuana retailers
or processors sign a " labor
peace agreement " with a
union to get a state license.
Such agreements, already
part of the license-application
process in California, require
that business owners agree to
remain neutral if employees
want to unionize.
According to Oregon Public
Broadcasting, the union
submitted more than 163,000
signatures for certification,
nearly 46,000 more than
required.
Michael Selvaggio, UFCW
Local 555's political director,
estimated that the union
spent $2.4 million on the
signature-collection campaign.
- Chris Casacchia
even checking ingredients in there.
We're very cautious of that industry,
and obviously South Dakota got rid
of it up there, " Mueller said.
" We think South Dakota has a real
good chance of going adult use this
year. "
Through May 2, legalization backers
had raised more than $1 million,
compared to less than $38,000 raised
by prohibitionists.
mjbizdaily.com | September-October 2024 51
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MJBiz - September/October 2024

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