Nearly four years after Measure 91 legalized recreational marijuana in Oregon, the issue remains divisive in Deschutes County, with marijuana growers and rural residents feeling at times like their views haven’t been reflected in the county’s rules and regulations for cannabis.

These divides have crept into races for two Deschutes County Commission seats — the first round of elections since the county began receiving applications to grow marijuana in the rural county in early 2017.

With the county commission mulling over changes to its rules and regulations around marijuana, which could add additional restrictions and reduce the amount of land zoned for growing recreational marijuana by more than 75 percent, the four candidates for two County Commission seats have a variety of views on how the county has handled the first few years of marijuana.

Deschutes County Commissioner Position 1

Republican Tony DeBone, the only incumbent in the race for a commission seat, originally voted against Measure 91 in 2014, but said his views have evolved since. DeBone, along with sitting county Commissioner Tammy Baney and former Commissioner Alan Unger, helped craft the original set of rules for recreational marijuana in 2016. The rules established a regulatory framework in which growers are required to meet a series of restrictions before receiving county approval.

Representing a county where just 52 percent of voters supported Measure 91, DeBone said the goal was to strike a balance between supporting a new industry and protecting rural residents who live by growing sites.

He described the rules the county came up with in 2016 as common sense solutions, including restrictions on lighting, odor and noise. He said he was happy with the restrictions the county ultimately adopted.

“There’s not a lot of times as a Deschutes County commissioner when you create a whole new chapter, a whole new subsection of county code,” DeBone said.

Deschutes County recently held a hearing for a new set of rules, which would enhance restrictions on odor, noise and water use for growers, along with dramatically curbing the land available for marijuana production. DeBone has participated in crafting the rules but said there were certain restraints on growers that he might not support as currently written.

“I know I’m going to advocate for paring it back a little,” he said.

DeBone’s challenger, Democrat Amy Lowes, a former hospice nurse working to renew a lapsed certification, was critical of the decision to revisit the rules guiding recreational marijuana so early after they were adopted. She noted that restricting the amount of land available to marijuana growers in the county could drive them to other parts of the state, hampering what has a chance to be a productive industry for Central Oregon.

“I think it’s really prohibiting this industry from getting a good start in Deschutes County,” Lowes said of the proposed regulations.

Lowes has experience with the cannabis industry, although it’s primarily on the medical side. She managed a medical marijuana growing operation in Deschutes County with her brothers for about a year before stepping aside in 2016. Lowes submitted a separate application for a medical marijuana dispensary in the county, which was denied in 2016 after being deemed too close to a school, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

However, Lowes maintains that she has no business ties to medical or recreational marijuana and no plans to return to the industry.

She supports the county’s efforts to increase enforcement on noncompliant medical and black market growers, including funding a new sheriff’s office detective who would focus on cannabis. She added that she’d like to see the county maintain its current rules around marijuana production for another 12 to 18 months before revisiting them, to determine their effectiveness.

“I think there’s an economic impact that we haven’t completely evaluated,” Lowes said.

Deschutes County Position 3

Republican Patti Adair, who defeated Baney during the primary in May, said marijuana was one of several factors that inspired her to run for the county commission.

Adair, the chair of the Deschutes County Republican Party, has long been a vocal opponent to Deschutes County’s rules for recreational marijuana, which she said don’t go far enough to protect rural residents from the impact of the newly legal industry.

As a rural resident, Adair said she’s talked to neighbors who are tired of dealing with the bright lights, traffic and odor that marijuana brings.

“The odor never goes away; it just depends where the wind blows,” she said.

Adair praised the commissioners for revisiting their rules, noting that the proposed rules clarify existing guidelines around using grow lights in the mornings and evenings.

She added that she supports increasing the distance between growers and other uses, which makes it harder for production facilities to cluster in areas like Tumalo and Alfalfa. While she said she understood the frustration of recreational growers trying to follow the rules, she praised county staff for listened to the concerns other residents have.

“I’m happy that they’ve really studied it and listened to the rural community,” Adair said.

Democrat James Cook, a small-business owner who has served as the chair of the Redmond Planning Commission, agreed with Lowes that it was too soon for Deschutes County to revisit its rules on marijuana, noting that the county already has the strictest rules governing recreational marijuana in Oregon. He said strengthening the rules could prompt a lawsuits for those who feel the rules are too restrictive.

“I don’t want to spend my first couple of years fighting litigation … because we overreached now,” Cook said.

Cook said he was happy with the first round of rules, and he supports the county’s efforts to improve its enforcement of black-market practices and non-compliant growers. Still, he said many of the proposed changes harm recreational growers trying to follow the rules rather than bad actors.

Cook added that keeping the rules in place would provide more information to help tweak the rules in the future, especially once the Oregon Liquor Control Commission ramps up its own enforcement. Despite the stigma around the plant, Cook said it provides jobs in rural communities that may not exist in other industries.

“If it wasn’t marijuana, I think it would be an industry we’d be happy to have,” Cook said.

The general election will be Nov. 6. Voters must register by Oct. 16 to be eligible, according to the Deschutes County Clerk’s office.

— Reporter: 541-617-7818, shamway@bendbulletin.com