Voter Power advocates for reasonable, fair and effective cannabis laws and policies, and educates, registers and empowers voters to implement these policies.

Voter Power was initially founded by several activists, including renowned hemp activist Jack Herer, in response to the 1997 attempt by the Oregon Legislature to recriminalize personal amounts of marijuana. Also in 1997, Voter Power's Executive Director, John Sajo, and Legal Counsel, Leland Berger, helped draft the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act (OMMA). 

In 1998, Voter Power was instrumental in the passage of OMMA and the defeat of marijuana recriminalization by designing and implementing the successful "Yes on 67, No on 57" campaign.  Voter Power spearheaded a voter registration drive that added over 10,000 new voters to Oregon's voter rolls and energized and educated voters to pass OMMA and stop the recriminalization of an ounce or less of marijuana. 

After the successful 1998 political campaigns, Voter Power successfully lobbied the Oregon Legislature to fund OMMA and has been lobbying legislators every legislative session since, working to improve and protect The Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP).

Voter Power organized the process that drafted Measure 33 and formed A Life with Dignity Committee to manage that campaign. Measure 33 would have increased the amount of medicine a patient could possess and would have established medical cannabis dispensaries in Oregon, providing safe access to the medicine that many patients desperately need.

Measure 33 garnered 43% of the vote in 2004 and directly led to the Oregon Legislature increasing the amount of medical marijuana a patient could possess to 24 ounces in 2005-the most authorized by any state legislature in the nation.  However, too many patients are still without medicine and Voter Power is working to correct that injustice.

In 2007, Voter Power led the lobbying effort in the Oregon Legislature to stop Senate Bill 465, the Patient Discrimination Bill that would have allowed employers to discriminate against medical marijuana patients.

Today, Voter Power is leading the effort to protect OMMA and improve our marijuana laws.  Voter Power's top priority is stopping Republican Kevin Mannix's attempt to recriminalize medical marijuana.  We are also working to provide safe access for patients through a regulated medical marijuana supply system-a system that will establish a program to assist patients in need and generate millions of dollars in state revenue.  We also run clinics across the state, helping patients register with the OMMP.