New Laws Take Effect & Pesticide Collection

New Laws Take Effect & Pesticide Collection. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

It's 2015 and as of Friday some new laws have taken effect in the northwest. Washington State just saw a 15-cent increase in the minimum wage. That makes the new rate $9.47 an hour. In Oregon it just went to $9.25. Washington has the highest state minimum wage in the nation, followed by Oregon. Speaking of Oregon, the consumption and cultivation of marijuana is set to become legal in Oregon July 1 so you will just have to cool your jets. Also, Oregon residents who were convicted of minor marijuana offenses in other states can now obtain concealed carry permits. A controversial gun law in Washington that requires background checks on all gun transactions went into effect back in December.

And speaking of the New Year if you have been needing to clean up your property and have some old pesticides hanging around it might be best to call your state department of ag. Oregon Department of Ag's Steve Riley talks about their service of pesticide waste collection.

RILEY:  "It's really a service to be able to get things out of the environment that reduce exposure to humans, to kids, to pets, and to prevent any sort of leakage into the environment, whether it's groundwater or surface water.

The ODA collected over 84,000 pounds of pesticide last year.

That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.