10 Years Of Covering Cannabis On 'Think Out Loud'

Oregon officials say they’ll fight to protect state-regulated cannabis businesses from federal prosecution but offer no strategies. 

Pamplin Media

We’re celebrating 10 years on the air this year and we’re marking this milestone in a number of different ways, with some shows that look forward to the next decade, and others — like today’s — that look back.

One of the topics we’ve talked about a lot over the past 10 years is cannabis. That’s because we’ve seen huge shifts in what’s legally and culturally acceptable when it comes to consuming and distributing marijuana. And we’ve been able to cover the emergence of a new industry that sits in a unique legal limbo between permissive state laws and continuing federal prohibition.

On this look back at a decade of conversations about cannabis, we’ll hear about:

• The status of medical marijuana in 2008 
• The role of cannabis in Southern Oregon’s economy in 2010
• Federal opposition to legalization
• The recreational legalization measure Oregonians rejected in 2012
• Our live broadcast from Main Street Marijuana in 2014, on the first day of retail sales in Vancouver, Washington
• The 2014 Oregon ballot measure that passed, legalizing recreational marijuana in the state
• A “town hall” style conversation about what legalization would mean for Oregonians with an audience at RonToms in Portland
• Another visit to Southern Oregon in 2015 to talk about what legalization meant for this area of the state 
• The day recreational cannabis became legal in Oregon in 2015 and the day that edibles became available in 2016
• One Native American tribe’s decision not to allow cannabis on tribal lands
• What it’s like to cover the cannabis beat for a local newspaper
• How law enforcement is dealing with driving under the influence of cannabis
• Opportunities for people of color in the cannabis industry
• An effort to help people with marijuana convictions get those records expunged
• How Oregon’s U.S. Attorney and cannabis businesses reacted when Attorney General Jeff Sessions changed the policy advice from the federal government regarding marijuana