PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The World Famous Cannabis Cafe in Portland will shut down this week because of new indoor air provisions implemented in Oregon, but not before one last get together.
“It is a little bittersweet,” Cannabis Cafe owner Madeline Martinez said Monday night as customers gathered for a final game of “stoner bingo”.
Martinez received a handful of violation notices since new provisions to Oregon’s Indoor Clean Air Act went into effect January 1. The law now includes marijuana and prohibits the use of vaporizers and e-cigarettes in public areas and work places.
“People are very upset,” she said. “I think it actually infringes on my First Amendment right by not allowing me to gather peacefully in this place where I pay the rent.”
The only exemptions to the law are a few cigar bars and tobacco shops.
Luci Longoria with the Oregon Health Authority stands behind the new provisions.
“Oregon’s law is clear that no one should be smoking, vaporizing or inhaling in an indoor public place or in a place of employment,” Longoria said. “That’s the law.”
Martinez believes cannabis clubs should be added to the list of exemptions. She’s taking the issue to Salem to tell state leaders to “make laws that make sense.”
“I’m going to the legislature and I plan to fight it,” she said.
Before the legislature adjourned its 2016 session, a Eugene senator introduced an amendment to the Indoor Clean Air Act that would allow for cannabis cafes.
Filed under: Business, Local News, Multnomah County, Oregon, Portland, Top Video
