A Portland city judge has ruled that a new Oregon law that requires businesses to test all customers for illegal substances like the so-called legal hallucinogen methylenedioxymethamphetamine is constitutional.
The ruling comes as Oregon lawmakers are considering legislation to decriminalize recreational use of the drug and make it illegal to sell it, though the law does not apply to sales in bars, clubs, and the like.
The state’s first trial for the drug was in August.
The first person to be arrested in connection with a Portland drug case was a 22-year-old man.
That case was appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court, but that court rejected the appeal, and a second trial was held this month.
The law also allows people to be charged with felony drug possession if they are found with “more than a few grams of any controlled substance” in their possession.
If they possess more than that amount, they can be charged as an accessory.
The measure will take effect July 1.
Last month, the state Supreme Court declined to hear the case, and in September, the court also declined to review the Oregon House bill.
The court’s decision came after a group of state legislators introduced a bill to ban the use of methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDEA) and other so-far unidentified drugs in Oregon, but they have not yet been brought to a vote.
The new law is expected to face an uphill battle in Oregon.
A group of legislators, including state Rep. Bill Quirk, a Republican, filed a lawsuit in November challenging the law, arguing it violates a 1996 federal law that allows the government to ban certain substances without a trial and without a specific time limit.
The court ruled on Wednesday that the 1996 law does allow for a trial period in which the state can ban certain drugs.
However, the ruling is a significant victory for a group that argued the 1996 bill does not allow for the same type of trial period.
The decision is the latest in a string of legal challenges to Oregon’s new law, which was passed in April and was the subject of a two-week public hearing last month.
The legislation was supported by President Donald Trump, who called the law “a great thing” and pledged to sign it into law if it becomes law.
The legislation is currently before the state’s legislature, and Quirk and other supporters of the law have vowed to challenge the decision.
In the lawsuit, the group said that the law violated the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment and federal law, the Oregon Constitution, which bans the government from enacting or enforcing a law “without due process of law or in violation of the Constitution.”
The ruling by Judge Michael L. Johnson in Portland was issued on Wednesday.
It will now go before the Oregon Court of Appeals, which is likely to hear arguments in the coming weeks.
