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Analog Cafe owner Donny Rife says OLCC inspector Theresa Parker walked into their club this weekend and told them to stop giving away free weed every Monday.
"She said, 'You can't do that, that's against the law—against policy," says Rife.
As we previously reported, the Analog holds Marijuana Mondays each week with cannabis raffles and giveaways by licensed dispensaries. Under Oregon law, it is legal to give away weed, and to grow it—but not to sell it or consume it in public.
Rife says they told the inspector they didn't allow people to smoke cannabis on the premises, and they weren't distributing the weed themselves.
"She said nope, you can't do it," says Rife.
Then, he says she handed him a letter.
"The letter only said we can't allow anybody to consume," Rife says. "We're going ahead and doing it... She got complaints. I think she personally didn't want us to do it."
Marijuana Monday will proceed as planned tonight beginning at 9 pm, and sponsor Medical Edibles will be raffling off a sample of Monkey Balls, which tested at 31.38 percent THC, which Rife says is the second-highest ever tested in Oregon. Burlesque show Gothique Blend will put on a THC theater with Stoner Olympics, a weed toss, and stupid human tricks.
Despite Rife's account, spokesperson Tom Towslee says the OLCC never expressly forbade the club from holding Marijuana Monday.
"The owner believes we did," says Towslee. "We have a bit of a he-said-she said situation."
Instead, Towslee says he believes that the Marijuana Monday night exists in a legal grey area.
"We told them we had some concerns," Towslee says, "and treated it as an educational moment."
Area bars had already been informed that consumption of marijuana on premises would likely jeopardize their liquor license. But technically, says Towslee, the mere presence of weed may be in violation of policy, because it's against federal law.
"That's going to depend on how religiously some people want to enforce the law," Towslee says. "These questions came up with Weed the People. They were charging 40 dollars—under a strict interpretation of the law, is that selling marijuana, which is illegal?"
(It was not.)
He also says the OLCC asked Rife to submit questions to the OLCC about the legality of Marijuana Mondays—which Rife disputes. "No one has asked us to submit any questions," he says. "We got a letter that says no consumption on the premises."
Rife says he's straight-edge, so weed isn't a personal priority, but he wants to hold the giveaways for as long as it's not possible to buy cannabis legally.
"I don't drink or do pot," he says, "but I fully support the community."
WWeek 2015