County bans on licensed recreational marijuana businesses may result in millions of dollars of lost economic activity, according to one analyst.
Marion County alone could lose $110 million in economic activity this year as business goes elsewhere because of its ban, said Beau Whitney, an economist and vice president of government and compliance at Toronto-based Golden Leaf Holdings.
Nineteen Oregon counties and 86 Oregon cities have banned marijuana producers, processors, wholesalers and retailers.
Recreational marijuana became legal in 2014 via Measure 91. State lawmakers allowed local governments to ban pot businesses if their voters opposed legalization. In counties with less than 60 percent rejecting legal sales, like Marion, the bans are temporary and must be put to the voters. In counties with more than 60 percent rejecting legalization, local governments can ban pot businesses outright.
Read more at the Statesman Journal.