The Oregon Weed Thread -Grows, News and Laws and Whatever

[PDX Dopesmoker]

Most of the stuff I have gotten from the OLCC has been about Hemp lately. Also more on the Dec. 15 deadline, declaring and moving from OHA medical to OLCC licensing, or staying with OHA and implementing the CTS.

As for the feds, Mj remains a schedule 1 controlled substance, so any interstate trafficking of weed will be dealt with hard by the Feds. Never mind state and local prosecution inside the states that have kept it illegal, like Indiana, Virginia and Tennessee. Also as a schedule 1 drug, any and all money made by selling dope can still be legally seized by the Feds. Just ask many dispensary owners in California about that, where the Feds raided them, did not bust anyone, but had them open the safes and took ~all~ the cash. Which is why no bank will do any business with a 'legal' marijuana related business. Never mind the RICO laws, which are still pending in the court cases in Oregon against a grower or growers here. It is also one thing to make weed legal in the legislature, and another thing to uphold those laws in the courts. As an example of that, we have the ROCO laws that are being tested here in Oregon. Also at the federal level, Sessions is basically trying to force congress to change the laws on Mj or allow him to prosecute and uphold the schedule 1 laws as they exist today. For that I have to give him credit to kick the wankers in congress in the ass and force them to do something about the Mj drug scheduling.

As a schedule 1 drug, limited clinical testing and studies can be done with marijuana. As a schedule 1 drug, no prescriptions can be legally written for it. As a schedule 1 drug, any and all monies made by selling weed can be legally confiscated by the Feds. As long as this remains in place, we are not going to get much farther at the state level. So we need more states to legalize weed. As it is now, 29 states now have made Mj legal either as medical or rec, so there is a majority. However, to get an amendment passed for the Constitution, like happened to create alcohol prohibition and repeal it, you need a 2/3 majority of states to ratify it. So that means 33 states with legal weed of some sort to force the issue down the DEA and fed's throats. Like happened to end of prohibition. So what we need is 4 more states to legalize medial weed and force the issue from the state level up. Or get congress to act... and pass a federal bill legalizing it, or in the least, move it to a schedule III classification.

I think you might be giving the AG too much credit, I don't see congress doing anything in the near future and I don't thing he does either, congress seems to be too busy cutting taxes and authorizing debt to do much else.
I found this old photo of Session from his Army days which I think illuminates his nature pretty accurately.

What you said about legal change coming from the states seems a lot more promising, however the legality of cannabis is tied up in a foreign treaty which supersedes the constitution and states can't change foreign treaties in any way. When they made pot illegal they really wrapped it up. I guess they alcohol prohibition taught them some mistakes to avoid such as allowing an architecture for repeal to exist.

 

[OregonBorn]

And who exactly is going to act upon any international treaties within the US? The UN?

 

[frostqueen]

And who exactly is going to act upon any international treaties within the US? The UN?

Nobody. The rest of the world is just waiting for the US to stop being idiots regarding federal legalization. Treaties can be re-negotiated with a change of scheduling status for cannabis. And by that I mean de-scheduling, which is the only rational move at this point.

 

[OregonBorn]

Today the Vermont Senate sent a big to Sessions&Co and passed a bill to legalize rec weed. The governor there is expected to sign the bill into law, and soon. So we will soon have 9 Legal States of America, as well as 2 territories, Puerto Rico and Guam, and the District of Colombia.

 

[OregonBorn]

Epic Fails!

Epic Fails!

And meanwhile in the legal state of Oregon... *ahem* all you retail sales guys, wise up! Check everyone's IDs! Sale of marijuana products to anyone under the age of 21 is a violation that will likely result in a 10 to 30 day license suspension, or a fine of $1,650. And if you sell to an OLCC minor decoy? The OLCC will be back to check you again and again and again.

January 10, 2018​

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Licensees Across Oregon Fail to Stop Sales to Minors

OLCC Marijuana Retailer Minor Decoy Checks Continue
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Portland, OR – During the winter holiday season the Oregon Liquor Control Commission conducted additional minor decoy operations across Oregon, and found that some licensed marijuana retailers are selling marijuana products to minors.​

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• On December 20, 2017, in the Eugene-Springfield area, marijuana inspectors visited 19 licensed marijuana retailers, and three (3) failed a check for prohibiting sales to a minor volunteer. Compliance rate: 84%
• On December 21, 2017, in the Keizer-Salem area, marijuana inspectors visited 23 licensed marijuana retailers, and five (5) failed a check for prohibiting sales to a minor volunteer. Compliance rate: 78%
• On December 21, 2017, in Portland, marijuana inspectors visited seven (7) licensed marijuana retailers, and four (4) failed a check for prohibiting sales to a minor volunteer. Compliance rate: 43%
• On December 28, 2017, in Central Oregon, marijuana inspectors visited five (5) licensed marijuana retailers, and none (0) failed a check for prohibiting sales to a minor volunteer. Compliance rate: 100%
• On December 29, 2017, in Southern Oregon, marijuana inspectors visited 12 licensed marijuana retailers, and four (4) failed a check for prohibiting sales to a minor volunteer. Compliance rate: 67%

“These overall results are unacceptable,” said Steve Marks, Executive Director of the OLCC. “One of the basic tenets of Measure 91 is the protection of children by discouraging their use of marijuana. Oregonians who voted for legalizing recreational marijuana implicitly told the cannabis industry to abide by public safety laws. Clearly they’re not, and we need to continue this type of enforcement activity."

 

[Robrites]

OLCC Stiffens Penalties for Underage Sales of Marijuana

OLCC Stiffens Penalties for Underage Sales of Marijuana

January 25, 2018​

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OLCC Stiffens Penalties for Underage Sales of Marijuana

Portland, OR -- The Oregon Liquor Control Commission today approved a temporary rule increasing the penalties for marijuana retail licensees that sell marijuana to minors. The rule includes a provision to revoke an individual’s marijuana worker permit if the permittee intentionally sells marijuana to a minor.​

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For a first time offense of the unintentional sale of marijuana to a minor the penalty increases to a 30-day license suspension or a fine of $4,950. Previously the penalty was a 10-day license suspension or a $1650 fine.​

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The Commission re-evaluated penalties after reviewing recent compliance reports on minor decoy operations.​

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“There’s no margin for error on making sure that marijuana doesn’t get in the hands of minors - period,” said Paul Rosenbaum, OLCC Commission Chair. “The integrity of Oregon's regulated system depends on industry compliance across the board.”​

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The temporary rule takes effect January 26, 2018; OLCC staff will review compliance activity during the 180-day period the rule is in place. After the sixth-month period, based on that compliance record, and recommendations by staff, the Commission will consider options for permanent rulemaking.​

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Selling marijuana to a minor is an OLCC Category II (b) Recreational Marijuana Sanction (OAR 845-025-8590). The penalties for multiple violations also increase. Two violations in a two year period would result in an automatic 30-day license suspension; three violations in a two year period would result in license revocation.​

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The previous penalties were a 10-day license suspension, and a 30-day license suspension respectively. Under the previous rule a retail license would be revoked after a fourth violation in two years.

The Commission already has the authority to suspend or revoke a marijuana worker permit if a permittee violates any laws or rules applicable to a licensee. An intentional sale of marijuana by a marijuana worker permittee could include a retail employee selling to a friend they knew was under 21 years of age.​

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“It's our core mission at the OLCC to prevent the sale of marijuana to minors,” said Steve Marks, OLCC Executive Director. “The early results are unacceptable and we'll keep holding retailers and their employees accountable until they get it right.”​

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[OregonBorn]

Yep. ID THEM ALL, even if they look like Clint Eastwood.

 

[OregonBorn]

The OLCC upped the ante today for an intentional sale to a minor to losing your retail weed license.

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Please note the effective dates of these rules and forward, as appropriate.



INITIAL & TEMPORARY ACTION

• Marijuana Sale to a Minor Package
  During recent minor decoy operations, the Commission has discovered a concerning amount of sales to state sanctioned minor decoys. In response, the Commission has deemed it necessary to increase the penalty for an unintentional sale to minor to a 30 day license suspension or a fine of four thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars for the first offense. Further, the Commission has increased an intentional sale of marijuana to a minor to Category I violation, which would result in license revocation.

 

[Robrites]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] HEY! there is a godamn SUPERFUCKING MOON outside RIGHT! now.

(Pro-tip) go outside...look up.


ALSO, YES, I drank IRISH whiskey (again) toonight
but, still, still....go outside LOOKUP!
[/FONT]

 

[Robrites]

HEY! there is a godamn SUPERFUCKING MOON outside RIGHT! now. (Pro-tip) go outside...look up. ALSO, YES, I drank IRISH whiskey (again) toonight but, still, still....go outside ... LOOKUP!

 

[OregonBorn]

I went outside, looked up, and saw... overcast. So I went back inside and smoked some blackberry kush.

 

[Chunkypigs]

‘Decimated’ by oversupply, Oregon’s wholesale marijuana prices drop to $50 a pound

Published 8 hours ago | By Bart Schaneman
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Oregon’s marijuana cultivators are facing a challenging environment that favors vertically integrated companies and craft cannabis.

Wholesale prices for outdoor-grown marijuana have dropped to as low as $50 a pound, and the situation isn’t likely to improve any time soon.

With hundreds of producer and retail licenses pending approval from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which regulates the state’s cannabis industry, the supply glut is expected to only increase, depressing prices further.

As of Jan. 26, there were 520 retailers in the state, with 141 licenses pending approval, according to the agency’s website.

Compare that to 906 licensed producers, with 858 pending approval.

Retailers apparently are joining growers in a race to the bottom in cannabis pricing.

At $49 an ounce, Oregon’s retail prices are nearing the low mark of $40 experienced by neighboring Washington state.

To ride out even more contraction in the market, businesses – either nascent or long-standing – should be well-capitalized, industry insiders say.

“People would stop trying to get in the industry if they actually knew what was going on here,” said Aviv Hadar, co-owner of Oregrown, a vertically integrated cannabis company in Bend.

“If you think there’s money in growing cannabis, put on a seatbelt and sit back for a 5-10-year ride, because it is not easy.”

Oversupply issues

Cultivators selling outdoor-grown cannabis to processors are getting as little as $50 a pound, according to Hadar.

“(The market) is just decimated. Decimated,” he said. “There’s so much oversupply.”

“I believe it,” said William Simpson, founder and president of Chalice Farms, a vertically integrated marijuana company in Portland.

He said he’s seen wholesale marijuana selling for as low as $100 a pound, but $50 a pound is “absolutely” possible.

Donald Morse, executive director of the Oregon Cannabis Business Council, said he’s heard of some people paying only $50 a pound for outdoor-grown cannabis trim, but it’s more common to see $100-$150 a pound.

“Prices have come down dramatically,” he noted.

Pete Gendron, president of the Oregon Sungrown Growers Guild, said characterizing the situation as dire for growers “is not an overstatement.”

In the past two years, prices have undergone about a 50% annualized drop, according to Gendron, and he expects prices to drop even more next year as the market continues to contract.

Hadar thinks the industry will look a lot different in a couple of years.

“Half of these people are going to be out of business,” he said.

Most of Oregon’s outdoor growers are selling their product to be made into cannabis oil, often contracting out their harvest to manufacturers for two to three years, according to Hadar.

Contracting with a processor ensures a return on their crop and eliminates the risk of shopping it around.

Hadar said there aren’t enough retail outlets to buy outdoor-grown flower.

But, he added, there is a use for outdoor-grown cannabis in the form of vape cartridges, which are driving the Oregon market.

The cannabis oil in vape cartridges also is used for other infused products, including edibles and tinctures. Hadar argues that consumers favor discrete consumption methods.

For consumers who aren’t concerned with discretion, the flower that sits in jars on retail shelves is from indoor grows, and the best of that indoor-grown flower commands a premium.

Oregon is seeing more boutique cannabis farms that don’t harvest a lot of product. These operations are slowly expanding as they pump out high-quality cannabis.

“Quality control really is the name of the game right now,” Gendron said.

“If you still have top-shelf flower, you’re still getting paid a pretty decent price for it.”

Vertical integration

The only way for growers to make it in the current Oregon market is to be vertically integrated, Simpson said.

“There’s so much competition,” he added.

The Oregon Cannabis Business Council’s Morse agreed.

Without a retail license, he said, a grower is competing with all other producers and often getting the lowest price.

“They have to be vertically integrated,” he added.

According to Hadar, retail stores are a necessity in your operation if you want to be successful.

While a customer can buy an ounce of flower for as low as $49 at some retail shops, a similar amount sells for a high of $560 in Hadar’s store. It costs him about $50 to grow a pound.

“That business model works,” he said. “Unless you own your own stores, good luck to you.”

Gendron doesn’t necessarily agree that growers must be vertically integrated to survive.

For example, he said, retail chains are developing in Oregon, and a business with 10 stores is going to need a diversified product pipeline to maintain its supply.

He added that businesses that are better capitalized will weather the fluctuation.

Gendron, who also does some consulting, said he recently was approached by someone with a business plan that allotted $500,000-$1 million to get in the game.

If you’re running an efficient business, Gendron said, that’s enough to get started.

“If you have a business plan that’s designed around lower margins or if you’re internally capitalized, you’re probably going to do fine,” he added.

What to do?

Morse attributes Oregon’s oversupply to a black market that’s more active than ever.

That’s because growers who can’t find a buyer in the legal sector end up selling to the black market, contributing to the supply being produced by illicit growers.

“They’re undercutting the prices in a dispensary,” he said. “We lose a lot of our domestic market share to black-market activity.”

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission could intervene if it deemed such action were necessary.

According to Morse, the agency has the right to evaluate the harvest, compare it to demand, then limit or expand canopy sizes for all grows.

But that’s not the most attractive solution.

“I’m not one for market protection,” Morse added. “I believe in free enterprise.”

Simpson expects the industry to overcome this oversupply situation and get to the other side.

“We will gain more of an equilibrium as an industry and become more of a mature market,” he said.

“It will level out to a market that will sustain.”

 

[Robrites]

Sheriff should protect, not demonize, marijuana businesses

Sheriff should protect, not demonize, marijuana businesses

Recently, Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson was quoted voicing his opposition to the legal marijuana industry in his jurisdiction.
“I am worried,” he said, regarding marijuana production and pending county land use applications to grow marijuana legally. “I see an opportunity to stop this here, and I would encourage those applications to be denied.”
On KTVZ he expounded: “I don’t want (marijuana) in Deschutes County.”
Apparently, Nelson is incensed by the idea that the state and the county have opted in on an industry that is still illegal under federal law. In an “impassioned” speech (The Bulletin’s words) before the county commission, Nelson cited a fear of declining property values and livability concerns for the rural areas of the county.
The sheriff’s comments are unfortunate and concerning for two reasons.
First, he’s wrong. If the sheriff had access to Google he’d quickly determine that property values in areas where marijuana cultivation is legal have risen. In a University of Wisconsin study, property values in the immediate vicinity of Denver dispensaries saw an 8 percent spike in value following implementation of adult-use marijuana laws in Colorado in 2014. The farther one wandered from dispensaries, the lower the property values.
Anecdotally, some anti-marijuana folks cite the high cost of property as one of the unfortunate byproducts of legalization. You read that right: Cannabis opponents are complaining that marijuana farms are raising property values.
As for “livability,” the most commonly cited complaint is odor, which is not likely to be an issue in Deschutes County where indoor growing is the only form of growing allowed, and a professionally designed odor-control system is a prerequisite to licensing.
Moreover, smell is in the nose of the beholder. Is the scent of a less-than-one-acre marijuana grow really more “unpleasant” than the aroma of animal feces on feedlot? What about the people who don’t enjoy the dog-food aroma wafting from Deschutes Brewery? Or what about noxious smoke pouring from the tailpipes of countless diesel pickup trucks? Is this truly about smell, or some long-held disdain for marijuana culture? (Cheech and Chong, Bob Marley, et al.)
The second reason Nelson’s comments are concerning is because he is a local law enforcement official, not a federal law enforcement official.
Would a sheriff openly criticize the existence of brewpubs, hardware stores or clothing outlets in his jurisdiction? From the standpoint of the law in Deschutes County (the entirety of the sheriff’s purview), there is no legal difference. Marijuana cultivation is legal here, and the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office has no power to change that. Members present at the commissioners’ meeting expressed interest in hiring a full-time county detective, charged exclusively with policing marijuana crimes. Huh? This, at a time when the state of Oregon (along with several other states) has come to the conclusion that the decades-long strategy of prohibition and over-policing of marijuana has failed miserably, disproportionately locking up racial minorities, while also preventing research into the plant’s potential for medical applications? Why would we double down on that failed strategy?
Oregon licensees would be happy to see increased code enforcement and steps taken to ensure that black-market activities do not undercut the legitimate market. (Every licensee knows that saturation of the market has some black-market roots, and none are happy about it.)
Nelson’s comments at the meeting, however, were not narrowly tailored to the black market.
He appears focused on demonizing legitimate business in Central Oregon, and his comments, made in his official capacity as sheriff, serve to intimidate legal, licensed farmers. These are the people he should be protecting.
Yes, marijuana is still a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act (for now). However, even U.S. Attorney Billy Williams has agreed to take a cooperative approach with the state agencies that regulate Oregon’s marijuana industry. Therefore, the Sheriff’s Office has no business taking federal law into its own hands.
— Jeremy Dickman lives in Bend

http://www.bendbulletin.com/opinion...sheriff-should-protect-not-demonize-marijuana

 

[OregonBorn]

‘Decimated’ by oversupply, Oregon’s wholesale marijuana prices drop to $50 a pound

Fake news. $50 an OUNCE at the pound price wholesale level is $800 a pound for crappy OUTS. Which is not news. Also the lowest prices quoted are for TRIM leaf sold to processors. But help fan the flames!

UPDATE on this story (stupid phucks at MBD):

(This story has been updated from an earlier version to clarify that these falling prices refer to trim and outdoor-grown flower sold to produce cannabis oil.)

The above from:
https://mjbizdaily.com/decimated-oversupply-oregons-wholesale-marijuana-prices-drop-50-pound/

 

[OregonBorn]

Meanwhile the feds are pressing the black market issue and picking up on the fake news about oversupply:

PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon’s top federal prosecutor said Friday the state has a “formidable” problem with marijuana overproduction that winds up on the black market and that he wants to work with state and local leaders and the pot industry to do something about it.

From:
https://www.thecannabist.co/2018/02/02/oregon-billy-williams-attorney-marijuana-summit/98128/

But at the same time:

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown says the top federal prosecutor in Oregon has assured her that he will not target legal marijuana business in the state.

From:
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/oregons-top-federal-prosecutor-holds-cannabis-summit

 

[OregonBorn]

And meanwhile, here in the real world of the Oregon wholesale weed market from:

https://www.cannabisbenchmarks.com/weekly-report

Oregon
12% Jump in Rate for Greenhouse Flower Lifts State Spot Index Above $1,450 Per Pound

But this is not sensationalized jump off the cliff BS, is it?

 

[PDX Dopesmoker]

Meanwhile the feds are pressing the black market issue and picking up on the fake news about oversupply:

PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon’s top federal prosecutor said Friday the state has a “formidable” problem with marijuana overproduction that winds up on the black market and that he wants to work with state and local leaders and the pot industry to do something about it.

From:
https://www.thecannabist.co/2018/02/02/oregon-billy-williams-attorney-marijuana-summit/98128/

But at the same time:

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown says the top federal prosecutor in Oregon has assured her that he will not target legal marijuana business in the state.

From:
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/oregons-top-federal-prosecutor-holds-cannabis-summit

One can only assume that fed prosecutor and the guy that wrote the sensationalized "$50 a pound" headline the prosecutor seems to have moved on are in cahoots in creating the alternative reality that they're trying to sell to the public.

 

[OregonBorn]

One can only assume that fed prosecutor and the guy that wrote the sensationalized "$50 a pound" headline the prosecutor seems to have moved on are in cahoots in creating the alternative reality that they're trying to sell to the public.

Yes, and this week Sessions is trying to parade the idea that marijuana use leads to more opioid addiction. However, that flies in the face of data released from states like Colorado that have shown that after the legalization of marijuana, opioid use has actually gone DOWN. But like global warming, they (the Republicans) can claim all the bullshit that they want, regardless of what the scientific facts are and what 97% of the scientific community says. Its beyond doublespeak.

 

[mushroombrew]

No more azamax gents.

http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/programs/Pesticides/Pages/PesticidesCurrentIssues.aspx

 

[PDX Dopesmoker]

it says bifenthrin and permethrin were the offending chemicals