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Recall Effort In Southern Oregon City Falls Short

Breeze Botanicals owner Brie Malarkey stands in front of the medical marijuana dispensary at the heart of a recall election in Gold Hill, Oregon.
Chris Lehman
/
Northwest News Network
Breeze Botanicals owner Brie Malarkey stands in front of the medical marijuana dispensary at the heart of a recall election in Gold Hill, Oregon.

An attempt to remove most of the city council in the southern Oregon city of Gold Hill has fallen short.

Breeze Botanicals owner Brie Malarkey stands in front of the medical marijuana dispensary at the heart of a recall election in Gold Hill, Oregon.
Credit Chris Lehman / Northwest News Network
/
Northwest News Network
Breeze Botanicals owner Brie Malarkey stands in front of the medical marijuana dispensary at the heart of a recall election in Gold Hill, Oregon.

Some residents were upset when city leaders approved a zoning change to permit a medical marijuana dispensary to open. The recall wouldn't have led to the closing of the dispensary but was aimed at the council members who voted in favor of allowing it.

Nearly half of all registered voters in Gold Hill cast a ballot. And about 60 percent of those who voted did so in favor of the four council members.

More than 140 towns around Oregon have banned medical marijuana dispensaries entirely. The Oregon Health Authority has approved the applications of 183 dispensaries statewide.

Copyright 2014 Northwest News Network

Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.