Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Oregon's foray into legalizing recreational marijuana has been a learning experience for everyone involved, not least for the state's many growers of medical marijuana, who had the luxury of operating with little oversight for years under Oregon's 18-year-old medical marijuana law. Those days are over.
That reality has been brought home once again after the state Land Use Board of Appeals upheld Jackson County's rules barring medical marijuana growing on land zoned rural residential. Growing for the recreational market was already off-limits in rural residential zones.
State law says medical marijuana may be grown on land outside cities. The problem is that Jackson County land-use rules prohibit agricultural operations on rural residential land. And by any definition, growing marijuana, whether for the medical or the recreational market, is agriculture.
A growers group called Right to Grow USA challenged the county rule, arguing that it jeopardized patients' access to medical marijuana, that it conflicted with the county's Comprehensive Plan and that it was unreasonable regulation and served no governmental purpose. LUBA rejected those arguments, noting that medical marijuana may be grown in exclusive farm use or forest zones.
LUBA correctly noted that preventing conflicts between farming and residential uses is a reasonable goal. No one is suggesting, for instance, that pig farms should be allowed in residential zones.
County officials also gave medical growers who have been operating since before 2014 in rural residential zones the option of applying to be grandfathered in, but relatively few have done so.
When voters approved legalizing recreational marijuana in 2014, federal law enforcement officials made it clear that Oregon must put a stop to black-market exports of marijuana to other states, much of it grown under the cover of the medical marijuana program, or federal authorities would step in. Lawmakers' attempts to regulate what had been a largely unregulated industry inevitably led to conflict with growers.
Certainly, there are medical growers who are not diverting their harvests to the black market, and who have no interest in growing for the recreational market. But they will have to learn to live with the new regulations, which are designed to make the new system work for everyone.
If existing growers in rural residential zones want to continue, they should apply to be grandfathered in. The fee for that application does seem steep at $1,563, but county planning department fees have gone up across the board in response to tight budgets.
The new rules also require much more thorough record keeping and reporting, in an effort to account for the marijuana being produced in the state. Medical growers are understandably reluctant to submit to increased regulation, but they have little choice in the matter.
If they want to continue to produce medical marijuana, they will have to get used to complying with reasonable regulations just as any other business does.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Finding Best Practices On Marijuana Regulation
Author: Staff
Contact: 1-800-522-0255
Photo Credit: AP
Website: East Oregonian
That reality has been brought home once again after the state Land Use Board of Appeals upheld Jackson County's rules barring medical marijuana growing on land zoned rural residential. Growing for the recreational market was already off-limits in rural residential zones.
State law says medical marijuana may be grown on land outside cities. The problem is that Jackson County land-use rules prohibit agricultural operations on rural residential land. And by any definition, growing marijuana, whether for the medical or the recreational market, is agriculture.
A growers group called Right to Grow USA challenged the county rule, arguing that it jeopardized patients' access to medical marijuana, that it conflicted with the county's Comprehensive Plan and that it was unreasonable regulation and served no governmental purpose. LUBA rejected those arguments, noting that medical marijuana may be grown in exclusive farm use or forest zones.
LUBA correctly noted that preventing conflicts between farming and residential uses is a reasonable goal. No one is suggesting, for instance, that pig farms should be allowed in residential zones.
County officials also gave medical growers who have been operating since before 2014 in rural residential zones the option of applying to be grandfathered in, but relatively few have done so.
When voters approved legalizing recreational marijuana in 2014, federal law enforcement officials made it clear that Oregon must put a stop to black-market exports of marijuana to other states, much of it grown under the cover of the medical marijuana program, or federal authorities would step in. Lawmakers' attempts to regulate what had been a largely unregulated industry inevitably led to conflict with growers.
Certainly, there are medical growers who are not diverting their harvests to the black market, and who have no interest in growing for the recreational market. But they will have to learn to live with the new regulations, which are designed to make the new system work for everyone.
If existing growers in rural residential zones want to continue, they should apply to be grandfathered in. The fee for that application does seem steep at $1,563, but county planning department fees have gone up across the board in response to tight budgets.
The new rules also require much more thorough record keeping and reporting, in an effort to account for the marijuana being produced in the state. Medical growers are understandably reluctant to submit to increased regulation, but they have little choice in the matter.
If they want to continue to produce medical marijuana, they will have to get used to complying with reasonable regulations just as any other business does.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Finding Best Practices On Marijuana Regulation
Author: Staff
Contact: 1-800-522-0255
Photo Credit: AP
Website: East Oregonian
