“Steve” — whose name was changed to protect his anonymity — is an accomplished glassblower and owner of one of Eugene’s nearly 10 smoke shops, walks around his store dusting and straightening the collection of water pipes the store has for sale. He has lived in Eugene for more than 13 years and is familiar with the culture around the city.
Steve stands straight behind the counter and breathes in slowly. For him, there are a few reasons that pinpoint what makes Eugene so accepting of marijuana culture.
“Definitely the liberal-ness or the left-wing culture or whatever of Eugene definitely helps. It makes it easier,” he said. “You know there are words you’re not supposed to say in here, but we’re somewhat more lenient. We’re not going to freak out on someone especially if they’re a repeat customer or we’ve done business with them a little bit.”
The liberal views that Steve talked about are represented in the political fabric of Oregon’s state legislature. The state of Oregon was the first state in the United States to pass cannabis decriminalization legislation, in 1972.@@http://norml.org/about/item/marijuana-law-reform-timeline@@
Decriminalization does not mean that marijuana is legal. It means the possible penalties for possession and distribution are greatly reduced from what they are in other parts of the country.
For example, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and delivery of marijuana without sale are misdemeanor offenses and not felonies. However, one area where Oregon has remained strict is the sale of marijuana to minors and within 100 feet of a school, both of which are considered felony offenses.@@http://www.ornorml.org/or-laws.php@@
Steve discussed the police presence in Eugene and the effect it has on his small business.
“Police drive by here thirty times a day and it’s not really sketched out,” Steve said. “We do play by the rules; we don’t have anything we’re not supposed to in here or anything like that. We have signs that say ‘tobacco use only’ and all of that, but it’s less stressful than being somewhere conservative for sure.”

One reason many people believe that marijuana use is becoming increasingly common in Eugene and the surrounding area is the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act. Passed in 1998, the act, which made Oregon the second state to legalize medical marijuana, allows caregivers and patients to have up to twenty-four ounces or six matured plants at any time without fear of prosecution.@@http://public.health.oregon.gov/DiseasesConditions/ChronicDisease/medicalmarijuanaprogram/Pages/index.aspx@@
According to the Oregon Health Authority, as of April 2012 there were 55,807 patients in the Medical Marijuana Program using the plant to treat myriad ailments ranging from severe pain to glaucoma. This, in conjunction with Oregon’s geographic proximity to California, is why some believe coming across the plant is a relatively easy task in Eugene.@@http://public.health.oregon.gov/DISEASESCONDITIONS/CHRONICDISEASE/MEDICALMARIJUANAPROGRAM/Pages/data.aspx@@
A 2009 survey done by the Central California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area reported that 49,105 metric tons of marijuana was produced in California, more than was produced in the entirety of Mexico and Canada combined.@@http://tinyurl.com/87ohmqu @@
Ben Brubaker, a local Eugene resident, believes that the history of Eugene during the counterculture movement of the 1960s has helped to shape the current philosophy and mindset in regards to marijuana in the city.@@http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2011/11/10/views2.html@@
“I think there’s a whole bunch of things that kind of worked that out. The green space for one,” Brubaker said. “I mean there was just a diaspora from what I could tell of folks out in San Francisco in California where a lot of the early counterculture movement blew up. A lot of them left and came up this direction.”
Both Brubaker and University student Erik DeSmith believe the liberal views of Eugene have contributed to the way the city views marijuana today.@@http://uoregon.edu/findpeople/person/Erik*DeSmith@@
“I think it’s just always been known as kind of a progressive town,” DeSmith said. “It’s always been open-minded; we got a lot of hippies here. The Grateful Dead used to tour here. Also, the laws (regarding marijuana) are pretty ‘lax around these parts.”
Steve, who has lived in a variety of places across the United States, talked about what makes Eugene a great place to own and operate a smoke shop.
“It’s really mellow, man,” he said. “The college is huge too. Most college towns, especially in mid-sized towns, are going to have a good liberal chunk.”