At midnight, marijuana will not only be legal to possess but to buy, a lot like liquor in Oregon. For advocates and critics alike, this is a big day.
And right now in Oregon, pot is big news. Wrote Mark Katches, the editor of The Oregonian/OregonLive, "You may never want to buy it, sell it, grow it, or smoke it. But there's no escaping the fact that legal marijuana will impact all of us – whether it's a proliferation of new shops sprouting up in our communities, the potential impact on neighborhood safety or the way drug testing is managed in the places we work."
Starting at midnight tonight, The Oregonian/OregonLive will have reporters and photographers reporting on the first day of legal marijuana sales. Find our coverage on OregonLive, on Twitter at #OregonPot, on Snapchat and on Periscope.
Before you head out to purchase marijuana, take a look at this Q&A for answers to many frequently asked questions, including who can buy marijuana, what can be bought and what can't, how to roll a joint and pack a pipe.
So, where can you buy it in Oregon? Statewide, more than 200 dispensaries have told the state they plan to sell recreational cannabis.
The Real Dope
Having trouble keeping up with all the developments as Oregon wades deeper into legal marijuana?
Here's a map of all the dispensaries, although not all of them will be selling marijuana on Thursday.
But it won't be for sale in many Oregon cities, and here's the list. In many towns, marijuana remains shunned by the majority and is seen as something that shouldn't be given any official stamp of approval.
If you do plan to go shopping, here are five things you should know. They include bring cash, the shops don't take debit or credit, and bring an ID, because you must be at least 21 years old to purchase pot.
On the health front:If you buy marijuana on Thursday, you'll be handed an information card with warnings to keep pot away from kids. It also contains a hotline number and warnings about using marijuana while pregnant
And about those kids, the Oregon Health & Science University is one of the 13 research institutions participating in a federal study looking into the effects of marijuana use on children.
On the job:
Will pot get me fired? (VIDEO)Watch a breakdown of typical workplace policy when it comes to marijuana and what would have to change in order to better detect impairment on the job.Thursday may be the day that pot is legal in Oregon, but that doesn't make it OK on the job. You can still lose your job if you test positive for pot, even if you're not under the influence at work.
The United Food & Commercial Workers Local 555 recently negotiated a contract on behalf of employees at a Portland dispensary. The contract sets out wages, pension contributions, health insurance and paid holidays and vacation.
And on the political front:In Portland, the city has moved to protect existing medical marijuana dispensaries from being crowded out by another pot retailer.
In Clackamas County, commissioners have launched the first countywide effort in the Portland area to write zoning rules for the marijuana industry."It's real and it's here to stay," Chairman John Ludlow. "Voters approved it and there are 8,000 growers in Clackamas County. Recreational sales start Oct. 1, so we might as well work on our land-use ordinances."
-- Sue Jepsen