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LEGALIZING POT Jackson County residents join committees to help set marijuana rules Local residents will help shape marijuana rules Comment By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Posted May. 5, 2015 at 12:40 PM Updated May 5, 2015 at 4:40 PM By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Posted May. 5, 2015 at 12:40 PM Updated May 5, 2015 at 4:40 PM » Social News Four Jackson County representatives from local government, law enforcement and the medical marijuana industry will serve on three state committees tasked with setting rules for recreational marijuana sales in Oregon. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has appointed Jackson County Board of Commissioners Chairman Doug Breidenthal and Brett Kenyon of Southern Oregon Alternative Medicine to a 15-person rules advisory committee. The committee will be tasked with advising the agency on rules that address licensing, compliance and law enforcement issues, OLCC officials said. “We will take that and sort of marry everything together and look at existing laws, how’s it going to work within the state system,” Breidenthal said. “I am looking forward to it. This is history in the making one way or another.” Medford police Lt. Kevin Walruff of the Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement task force will serve on a 12-person subcommittee that will advise OLCC on the rules on licensing, compliance and law enforcement. Rowshan Reordan of Green Leaf Lab in Ashland will serve on a five-person subcommittee that will give advice on traceability and laboratories that test marijuana products. OLCC said the rules advisory committee will be made up of a mix of representatives from law enforcement, local governments, industry experts and the public. "(The advisory committee) will provide a balanced approach to recommending rules to the commission that will reflect the will of the voters when they passed Measure 91 last November," OLCC Executive Director Steven Marks said in a news release. The three committees will begin meeting in June. OLCC said it plans to appoint several subgroups to develop draft rules for retail, growers, extracts, processors, topicals and infused products, along with additional subgroups that will focus on advertising, labeling, business and wholesale operations. Though recreational marijuana becomes legal July 1, retail sales won't be allowed until Jan. 1, 2016. Breidenthal said land use and impacts to residential areas are among the key issues he's hoping to address in making rule recommendations. "We need to be looking at ways that it’s not going to impact neighbors. We’re going to have to figure out how to look at land-use issues as it pertains to smaller parcels,” Breidenthal said. “I’m personally trying to keep any bias I would have out of the process. More than anything I want to make sure that rural Oregon is looked at in a fair and equitable way.” Walruff said he hopes his input will make for clear and concise rules with little room for misinterpretation. “That we have clear and definitive lines of where it can and can’t be used, that people who are doing it in the right way have the right to do so,” he said. "It's going to come back to educating our law enforcement, too.” Kenyon and Reordan could not be reached for comment. Reach reporter Ryan Pfeil at 541-776-4468 or [email protected] . Follow him at www.twitter.com/ryanpfeil . By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Posted May. 5, 2015 at 12:40 PM Updated May 5, 2015 at 4:40 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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