Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
Medical marijuana growers would be able to sell up to 20 pounds of their crop into Oregon's recreational market under a bill that has advanced in the Legislature.
House Bill 2198 is another stab by lawmakers at reshaping Oregon's older but troubled medical marijuana program so it can coexist with the booming new recreational market – and doesn't run afoul of federal authorities.
The bill comes with a provision that forms a commission charged with giving the Legislature, before the end of the year, a possible new framework for a medical marijuana program with long-term viability.
Anthony Taylor, president of Compassionate Oregon, which advocates for medical marijuana patients, said 2198 could be a win for the medical program that many low-income patients rely on.
"It really is an important bill that's going to allow the state of Oregon to remain a leader for medical marijuana programs," he said.
But John Sajo, a medical grower and director of the Umpqua Cannabis Association, said the bill didn't go far enough.
"It's a very small step," he said. "For existing medical gardens there should have been no limit."
The Joint Committee on Marijuana Regulation sent the bill on to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means by a 9-1 vote last week.
With the rise of licensed recreational marijuana under the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the medical program under the Oregon Health Authority has withered – the number of dispensaries, once at 425, has dwindled to 42, according to the OHA website. By contrast, there are 452 active recreational retail licenses, according to the OLCC's latest count in late May.
The Legislature already passed one major medical marijuana bill this session, Senate Bill 1057, signed into law last week by Gov. Kate Brown. It shifts more oversight of medical growers to the OLCC, including requiring tracking of marijuana as it moves through the system.
Supporters in the Legislature and law-enforcement officials said tighter regulation of the medical program was needed to make sure it doesn't invite scrutiny of the U.S. Justice Department. With marijuana illegal at the federal level, state marijuana programs are allowed to operate under "Cole memo" guidelines formulated under the Obama administration.
The law also includes some incentives to medical growers to enter the recreational market, but Taylor said the 20-pound allowance in HB 2198 would be a more effective tool for that.
Some recreational growers had objected to the 20-pound allowance, saying it would put them into competition with medical growers who didn't face all of the same regulatory burdens they did, while bringing tens of thousands of pounds of new marijuana into the market.
Mason Walker, CEO of East Fork Cultivars, a Josephine County recreational grower that specializes in low-THC, high-CBD marijuana – more medicinal than psychoactive – testified against the bill on those grounds in mid-May. He said late last week that his concerns were somewhat allayed by a provision of the bill that passed the committee that opens the recreational route only to medical growers already in the OHA program.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: https://www.bizjournals.com/portlan...imed-at-oregons-ailing-medical-marijuana.html
Author: Pete Danko
Contact: https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/about-us/contact
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Website: https://www.bizjournals.com/portland
House Bill 2198 is another stab by lawmakers at reshaping Oregon's older but troubled medical marijuana program so it can coexist with the booming new recreational market – and doesn't run afoul of federal authorities.
The bill comes with a provision that forms a commission charged with giving the Legislature, before the end of the year, a possible new framework for a medical marijuana program with long-term viability.
Anthony Taylor, president of Compassionate Oregon, which advocates for medical marijuana patients, said 2198 could be a win for the medical program that many low-income patients rely on.
"It really is an important bill that's going to allow the state of Oregon to remain a leader for medical marijuana programs," he said.
But John Sajo, a medical grower and director of the Umpqua Cannabis Association, said the bill didn't go far enough.
"It's a very small step," he said. "For existing medical gardens there should have been no limit."
The Joint Committee on Marijuana Regulation sent the bill on to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means by a 9-1 vote last week.
With the rise of licensed recreational marijuana under the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the medical program under the Oregon Health Authority has withered – the number of dispensaries, once at 425, has dwindled to 42, according to the OHA website. By contrast, there are 452 active recreational retail licenses, according to the OLCC's latest count in late May.
The Legislature already passed one major medical marijuana bill this session, Senate Bill 1057, signed into law last week by Gov. Kate Brown. It shifts more oversight of medical growers to the OLCC, including requiring tracking of marijuana as it moves through the system.
Supporters in the Legislature and law-enforcement officials said tighter regulation of the medical program was needed to make sure it doesn't invite scrutiny of the U.S. Justice Department. With marijuana illegal at the federal level, state marijuana programs are allowed to operate under "Cole memo" guidelines formulated under the Obama administration.
The law also includes some incentives to medical growers to enter the recreational market, but Taylor said the 20-pound allowance in HB 2198 would be a more effective tool for that.
Some recreational growers had objected to the 20-pound allowance, saying it would put them into competition with medical growers who didn't face all of the same regulatory burdens they did, while bringing tens of thousands of pounds of new marijuana into the market.
Mason Walker, CEO of East Fork Cultivars, a Josephine County recreational grower that specializes in low-THC, high-CBD marijuana – more medicinal than psychoactive – testified against the bill on those grounds in mid-May. He said late last week that his concerns were somewhat allayed by a provision of the bill that passed the committee that opens the recreational route only to medical growers already in the OHA program.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: https://www.bizjournals.com/portlan...imed-at-oregons-ailing-medical-marijuana.html
Author: Pete Danko
Contact: https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/about-us/contact
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Website: https://www.bizjournals.com/portland
