Law Oregon

[Baron23]

Oregon, awash in marijuana, takes steps to curb production

Oregon is awash in pot, glutted with so much legal weed that if growing were to stop today, it could take more than six years by one estimate to smoke or eat it all.

Now, the state is looking to curb production.

Five years after voters legalized recreational marijuana, lawmakers are moving to give the Oregon Liquor Control Commission more leeway to deny new pot-growing licenses based on supply and demand.

The bill, which passed the Senate and is now before the House, is aimed not just at reducing the huge surplus but at preventing diversion of unsold legal marijuana into the black market and forestalling a crackdown by federal prosecutors.

"The harsh reality is we have too much product on the market," said Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, who intends to sign the bill if it wins final passage as expected.

Supply is running twice as high as demand, meaning that the surplus from last year's harvest alone could amount to roughly 2.3 million pounds of marijuana, by the liquor commission's figures. That's the equivalent of over 1 billion joints.

Oregon has one of the highest such imbalances among the 10 states that have legalized recreational marijuana since 2012, in part because it had a big head start in the weed business.

With its moist climate and rich soil, Oregon has a long history of pot growing. When it became legal, many outlaw growers went legitimate, and others jumped into the business, too.

They are now all cultivating weed in a multitude of fields, greenhouses and converted factories, with 1,123 active producer licenses issued by the OLLC over the past three years.

The legislation could be a lifeline to some cannabis businesses that are being squeezed by market forces.

Retail prices in Oregon for legal pot have plummeted from more than $10 per gram in October 2016 to less than $5 last December. At the same time, smaller marijuana businesses are feeling competition from bigger, richer players, some from out of state.

Officials worry that some license holders will become so desperate they will divert their product into the black market rather than see it go unsold.

"We're a very young industry," said Margo Lucas, a marijuana grower and vendor in the Willamette Valley who is hoping the measure will give her business breathing room.

She noted that growers can't seek federal bankruptcy protection -- pot is still illegal under federal law, and banks avoid the industry -- and that many owners have taken out personal loans to finance their businesses.

"So when we go out of business, we're going to go down hard," Lucas said. "Many of us will lose our homes. ... You're going to have a lot of entrepreneurs in this state that are pretty unhappy with the way that this ends if we don't get some support with this bill."

Opponents say the proposed law will drive growers who are denied licenses into the illegal market, if they're not there already.

"This current track seems like a giant step backwards toward prohibition, which has always been a disaster," Blake Runckel, of Portland, told lawmakers in written testimony.

As of January, Oregon's recreational pot market had an estimated 6 1/2 years' worth of supply, according to an OLCC study .

To prevent excess pot that is still in leaf form from spoiling, processors are converting some into concentrates and edible products, which have longer shelf life, OLLC spokesman Mark Pettinger said.

U.S. Justice Department officials have said they won't interfere in states' legal marijuana businesses as long as the pot isn't smuggled into other states and other standards are met. Oregon officials want to let federal authorities know they're doing everything they can to accomplish that.

The bill to curtail production could "keep the feds off our back," Rob Bovett, legal counsel for the Association of Oregon Counties, told lawmakers.

Oregon puts no cap on the number of licenses that can be issued. Last June, the OLCC stopped accepting applications so it could process a monthslong backlog. But under current law, it has no specific authority to say no to otherwise qualified applicants, Pettinger said.

The longer-term hope is that the federal government will allow interstate commerce of marijuana, which would provide a major outlet for Oregon's renowned cannabis.

"We will kind of be like what bourbon is to Kentucky," said state Sen. Floyd Prozanski.

 

[Baron23]

Oregon makes it easier to expunge old marijuana convictions

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Those with outdated marijuana convictions will be able to have their records expunged faster under an Oregon bill approved by the House.

Lawmakers voted 42-15 Tuesday to ease some of the bureaucratic hurdles involved in setting aside marijuana convictions that occurred before the state legalized the drug in 2015.

Those seeking expungement will no longer have to pay a fee nor will they have to provide fingerprints or undergo a background check.

Rep. Janelle Bynum says those with outdated convictions have trouble securing housing and employment and that they are “still paying the price for actions that we have decriminalized.”

Bynum, the only black member of the House, adds that this issue disproportionally affects people of color. The ACLU reported in 2013 that blacks were 2 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession in Oregon than whites.

The Senate already approved the measure but has to approve a technical change before it heads to the governor.

 

[Baron23]

Oregon lawmakers sign 2 laws to deal with massive marijuana surplus

After legalizing marijuana in 2015, officials in Oregon began liberally doling out licenses to growers in an effort to shift sales away from the black market toward the now-legalized industry.

The plan worked, but created another problem: Oregon now has way more pot than its 4 million residents can ever possibly hope to smoke.

ILLINOIS MAN WITH STAGE 4 CANCER SENTENCED FOR ORDERING THC CHOCOLATES

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According to a 2019 Oregon Liquor Control Commission report, there are about 2,100 grower licensees in the state with enough weed currently on the market that it would take an estimated 6.5 years to sell it all within Oregon without any more production. The glut of marijuana has driven the price of marijuana down and left Oregonians wondering how they’ll handle the weed windfall.

In an attempt to remedy the state’s cannabis conundrum, lawmakers in Oregon signed off on two news bills in the last week that would, respectively, cut down on excessive cultivation of marijuana and find new markets for the state's budding pot industry.

Senate Bill 218 hands the Oregon Liquor Control Board more authority in issuing new licenses to growers based on the supply and demand for weed, while Senate Bill 582 lays the groundwork to eventually allow the governor to enter into agreements with other states for the importing and exporting of marijuana.

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It is currently illegal to transport marijuana across state borders so any moves from the governor’s mansion in Salem would have to wait until lawmakers in Washington D.C. decide to make drastic changes to the nation’s drug laws – a situation that seems unlikely given the Trump administration’s less-than-friendly stance toward legal marijuana.

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Currently recreational marijuana is legal in 11 states and medical marijuana is legal in 33, and marijuana advocates argue that states like Oregon wouldn’t be running into this surplus issue if the substance were permitted to be shipped out of state.

“You have people using water in the desert in Nevada to grow mediocre cannabis, or in Florida, where they have to dehumidify giant spaces, consuming twice the energy,” Adam J. Smith, founder and director of the Craft Cannabis Alliance based in Oregon, told the Los Angeles Times. “Oregon wouldn't have an oversupply problem if we could access legal markets like these.”

 

[Baron23]

Yes, this is an introduction of a Federal bill and not Oregon, per se, but its about Oregon so here it is.

IMO, this bill has absolutely no chance to even get out of committee....but we will see.


New Congressional Bill Would Let Oregon Export Cannabis

Oregon’s famous oversupply of cannabis has finally generated a federal solution. Or at least an attempt at one.

The bill comes days after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed a state law allowing farmers to move cannabis across state lines.
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden (D) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D) teamed up today to introduce a bill that would allow Oregon growers to ship cannabis across state lines. Under current law, that’s strictly prohibited in all 34 medical states and 11 adult-use states.

The Congressional bill comes just days after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed a new state law allowing the governor’s office to enter into interstate compacts with other legal cannabis state that border Oregon—Washington, Nevada or California—as soon as permission is granted by the federal government.

“As more and more states legalize cannabis, the gap between state and federal laws will only grow more confusing for both legal businesses and consumers,” Sen. Wyden said in a statement. “Congress can and should immediately act to protect the will of Oregonians and voters in other states from federal interference—and that should include interstate cannabis commerce.”

Expanding Existing Protections
Currently, the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment prohibits the DOJ from using taxpayer funds to prosecute medical marijuana programs in states that legalize medical cannabis. The Wyden-Blumenauer “State Cannabis Commerce Act” would codify and expand that protection to include legal adult-use markets and interstate commerce between legal states. (Even as today’s bill was introduced, Congress continues to consider a separate budget amendment that would expand the existing Rohrabacher-Blumenauer protections to include adult use states, but not interstate cannabis commerce.)

According to the newly introduced bill, states involved would have to enter into a trade compact with each other and agree on issues like transportation regulations. If the states don’t border each other, an agreement would also have to be reached with any states the cannabis passes through.

The law is important for Oregon’s cannabis industry because without federal permission, Oregon farmers could potentially face huge drug trafficking penalties if they tried to move their product over across lines.

Poking the Feds Too Much?
But moving cannabis from Oregon to neighboring states “would be a bridge too far” for federal officials, predicts cannabis policy expert John Hudak of the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C.

Interstate cannabis commerce 'is much more likely to irk the federal government, and sort of poke the bear a little bit.'
John Hudak, Brookings Institute
Interstate commerce, he says, goes much further than merely establishing in-state cannabis markets, and “is much more likely to irk the federal government, and sort of poke the bear a little bit.”

Previous to Wyden and Blumenauer’s bill, the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer budget amendment has had the potential to be interpreted to protect interstate cannabis commerce, according to Hudak, but that interpretation has never been tested. The ability for that argument to hold up in court, he says, has always been iffy.

Too Much in Oregon, Too Little in California
Wyden and Blumenauer’s bill, however, would definitively protect interstate commerce, should it pass.

“Overall, this seems like a good move,” says Morgan Fox of the National Cannabis Industry Association in Washington, D.C. “It’s going to create freer and more competitive markets for cannabis, and will certainly help some of the pressures involved in these markets being limited to just intrastate.”

When new states enter the medical or recreational market, says Fox, there’s usually a lag time between when it is legal to buy cannabis and where there is actually quality product available for purchase. California, for example, legalized adult-use cannabis in Nov. 2016, and sales didn’t begin until Jan 1, 2018. Even then, there were only a few dispensaries and they often ran out of product in the early weeks and months of the adult-use market.

“It’d be good for those businesses to be able to choose to carry products from out of state, so that they can start getting stuff to consumers more quickly and getting medicine into patients hands immediately,” says Fox.

Grow Cannabis Where It Makes Sense
Some Oregonians, meanwhile, feel that exporting cannabis out of their state is only a matter of time, and it’s better if everyone else gets on board sooner rather than later. “We have the best and most important producing region in the world here,” says Adam Smith of Craft Cannabis Alliance, one of the main advocates of the Oregon state bill. “There’s a reason that for generations, Oregon and California have been supplying most of the country with cannabis—it’s because this is where it grows.”

Why are we telling cancer patients in Delaware that there's no medicine for them, but it's rotting on the shelf in Oregon?
Adam Smith, Cannabis Craft Alliance
Smith says that when federal prohibition ends, Oregon and California cannabis will be all over the country—and preventing that from happening ensures that states who are starting up cannabis industries will waste time and money. “You can grow citrus in New York if you want, right?” he explains. “It’s just a terrible business decision.”

Smith says federal legislation is step two of a three-step plan. Next, he says, is looking for partner states. Smith’s organization is focusing on four to eight states over the next 12 months, trying to convince other governors to pressure the federal government along with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. Illinois (which legalized marijuana for adult use earlier this week), New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Nevada and a few medical-only states are all on his short list.

“We’re working with patients in Delaware, where you can legally be a patient, but Delaware doesn’t and is never going to have a real production industry” Smith explains. Interstate cannabis commerce isn’t a radical step, he says. “What’s radical is telling cancer patients in Delaware that ‘Oh, yeah the medicine that could help you is rotting on the shelf in Oregon because we can’t bring it to you.’”

 

[Baron23]

"The Oregon commission has licensed 1,136 recreational growers."

Uh, you think that might have something to do with it????

Too much weed? Oregon's got a marijuana surplus and officials aren't happy

Five years after Oregon legalized recreational marijuana, its lawmakers now are trying to rein in production, fearing the state’s big weed surplus will tempt some licensed businesses to sell their products out of state or on the illegal market.

Such diversions could invite a crackdown from the federal government and cast a pall over the legal pot industry. Last year, the U.S. attorney for the District of Oregon put the state on notice when he announced that curbing interstate trafficking was his top cannabis law enforcement priority.

Licensed growers have spent thousands of dollars on compliance and don’t want to risk their businesses by selling illegally, said Michael Getlin, founder of a 15,000-square-foot cannabis farm in Oregon City. “The flip side of that is, I get cold calls all the time from people out of state looking to go shopping,” he said — often offering two or three times market price in Oregon.

Oregon’s surplus, though legal, is something of a cautionary tale for other states as they try to manage marijuana supply and demand. Enough recreational cannabis sat on dispensary shelves, in warehouses and in processing plants this January to satisfy buyers for more than six years, according to a report from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the state agency that regulates recreational marijuana.

Like California, Oregon has a long history of illegal grows. And while some states, such as Colorado and Washington, limit the production licenses people can hold and the number of plants businesses can grow, Oregon has made it easy for people to harvest a lot of weed.

“They underestimated the number of people that would be willing to convert to the legal market or would want to participate in the legal market,” said Beau Whitney, vice president and senior economist for New Frontier Data, a company based in Washington, D.C., that studies the cannabis industry.

To address the pot glut, Oregon this year enacted legislation that allows the regulators to stop issuing new production licenses when supply exceeds demand. The state also approved a measure that, with federal approval, would allow growers to sell their cannabis out of state.

Congressional bills that would legalize marijuana sales at the federal level have so far been unsuccessful. But two Democrats who represent Oregon in Congress, Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, last month proposed legislation that would allow for interstate commerce between states with legal cannabis programs.

Oregon marijuana growers appear to have planted less cannabis this year and prices have ticked up, a sign that the market is correcting, said Adam Smith, founder and director of the Craft Cannabis Alliance, a nonprofit trade group based in Oregon.

Still, Smith said, “the fix is open markets.” His group pushed for the Oregon interstate commerce bill and plans to lobby for similar legislation in California and beyond.

Production Control
The Oregon cannabis glut has raised eyebrows among experts who study marijuana markets. “The biggest policy lesson you can take from this is: understand the existing cannabis market,” said Adam Orens, co-founder of the Marijuana Policy Group, a consulting outfit based in Denver.

His group helps states create an initial estimate of marijuana demand by looking at federal drug use surveys and conducting new surveys of state residents. Once legal sales are up and running, he said, plant tracking systems can help regulators follow market dynamics.

Many states limited marijuana production from the get-go. Washington state, for instance, issued production licenses only during a 30-day period in 2013 and allowed producers to license no more than three businesses each.

Marijuana prices have been dropping in recent years in Washington. But people in the industry disagree over whether that means there’s an oversupply problem and how to address it, said Brian Smith, communications director for the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board.

“We’re in a different boat than Oregon is,” he said. The regulatory agency hasn’t completed a supply and demand study yet, but it found in a recent report that most marijuana producers in Washington are planting in less than the total amount of space allowed under their licenses.

Colorado’s Department of Revenue issues production licenses in five tiers, from up to 1,800 plants to up to 13,800 plants. All cultivation licenses begin at the first tier. To move up a tier, growers must prove that they sold 85% of the crop they grew in the previous six months.

If cultivators can’t transfer enough product, officials may knock their license down to a lower tier, according to Shannon Gray, marijuana communications specialist for the Revenue Department.

In 2017, licensed growers in Colorado produced about 13% more marijuana than was sold that year, according to a report prepared for the Revenue Department by the Marijuana Policy Group and the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

The report shows supply and demand are “effectively in equilibrium,” Gray said in an email.

Statewide production limits help keep supply and demand aligned, Orens said, as do local cultivation and sale limits and Colorado’s initial requirement that each company control production, processing and sales. “It’s not one specific thing, it’s all these things together,” he said.

Whitney at New Frontier Data said the decline in the price of retail marijuana comes not from oversupply but competition among businesses.

Walgreens, in some states, will begin selling products made with CBD, a non-psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. USA TODAY

‘The Emerald Region’
Oregon regulators’ efforts to create a legal marijuana industry have been complicated by the long history of illegal grows in the area.

The Craft Cannabis Alliance’s Smith calls Southern Oregon and Northern California “the emerald region,” where long, dry growing seasons and cool nights create a perfect climate for growing marijuana outdoors. Prior to legalization, some illegal pot grown in Oregon was trafficked out of state, he said.

After Oregonians voted to allow marijuana sales in 2014, policymakers focused on bringing illegal businesses into the legal system, which is constrained by state borders.

“When the system was getting set up in Oregon — it wasn’t really launching a brand new market, it was transitioning an underground, unregulated market into an above-ground, regulated one,” said TJ Sheehy, a data analyst for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission’s marijuana program.

To encourage illegal businesses to transition, Oregon policymakers at first didn’t set a cap on licenses. Fees are low — starting at $1,000 for a 2,500-square-foot outdoor grow or a 625-square-foot indoor grow — and since 2016, aspiring marijuana magnates haven’t needed to live in the state to get a business license.

“If you want a license of a certain size, you can have it,” Sheehy said. “So it’s up to you to decide what makes market sense.”

The Oregon commission has licensed 1,136 recreational growers.

Recreational growers aren’t the only suppliers in the state. Only about half the marijuana Oregon adults consume is bought from licensed recreational dispensaries, with the remainder supplied by medical growers, home growers and the illegal market, Sheehy said.

He said there’s no evidence that a lot of recreational legal marijuana is going out of state, though some businesses may be breaking the law to juice sales, such as by inflating their pot potency results.

A lot of the excess cannabis will be composted if producers can’t find buyers, Sheehy said.

The overproduction of marijuana in Oregon and illegal export of surplus product remains an important concern for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said Kevin Sonoff, its public affairs officer, in an email. Since last May, he added, the office has focused more on this issue — especially in Southern Oregon — and marijuana-related investigations, arrests and convictions have increased.

Prices for marijuana flower crashed in late 2017, sending many growers out of business. “At pretty much the drop of a hat, prices dropped by 50%,” said Michael Johnson, chief operating officer of Siskiyou Sungrown, an 80,000-square-foot outdoor grow in Southern Oregon. “We ended up extracting a lot of that inventory, rather than selling it as smokable flower.”

The emergency legislation that Democratic Gov. Kate Brown signed into law his year allows Oregon regulators to stop issuing producer licenses when supply exceeds demand.

The commission had paused processing of applications in 2018 because their workload exceeded staff capacity, said Mark Pettinger, the recreational marijuana spokesman for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. The new legislation allowed the agency to extend its moratorium through 2021.

Legislators also laid the groundwork for interstate marijuana trade with a law allowing the governor to sign marijuana delivery agreements with other governors, once given the go-ahead from the federal government.

Oregon state Sen. Floyd Prozanski, a Democrat who sponsored the interstate commerce bill, floated similar legislation two years ago but it didn’t pass the Senate. This time around, he said concern about overproduction helped propel his bill to the governor’s desk.

Given Oregon’s climate and history of marijuana production, pot could be the state’s next signature export, Prozanski said. “I see cannabis to Oregon as Kentucky sees bourbon.”

People close to the marijuana industry say that Oregon’s oversupply problem may have peaked last year. “People went bankrupt,” said Don Morse, former chairman of the Oregon Cannabis Business Council, a trade group. “And the market settles itself out.”

“My farmer clients tell me that prices are going up, and same with my dispensary clients,” said Amy Margolis, a lawyer based in Portland who specializes in the cannabis industry.

Switching to Hemp
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon are working to get hemp removed from a federal list of illegal controlled substances. Buzz60

Now Oregon is experiencing a different cannabis gold rush: Morse said that many former marijuana business people — himself included — have gotten out of the saturated pot market and switched to growing hemp, a type of cannabis that is legal nationwide and cannot produce a high.

Two years ago, before Congress in 2018 legalized hemp production and commercial sales, officials at the Oregon Department of Agriculture gave 246 farmers permission to plant some 3,300 acres of hemp. This year, they gave eight times as many farmers permission to plant some 53,000 acres. Many growers aim to harvest hemp for cannabidiol, or CBD, a trendy extract with alleged health benefits.

The agency doesn’t track how many former marijuana growers are now growing hemp, according to Sunny Summers, the cannabis policy coordinator at the Department of Agriculture.

Hemp CBD is so new that analysts have yet to agree on its actual market size. But like many farmers, Morse is optimistic. His company next year will seed 1,100 acres of hemp in Oregon and California, after growing less than 10 acres this year.

“People say, ‘Well you’re going to experience an oversupply of hemp.’ And maybe, maybe not, because you can ship over state lines,” he said. “And you can compete in the national market.”

 

[Baron23]

And this is just legal weed...no telling what total incl black market comes to.

Oregon cannabis sales for March set record amid coronavirus response

Oregon saw $84.5 million in marijuana sales in March amid the coronavirus response
In the week leading up to Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s “stay home” order to respond to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Oregonians were busy stocking up on groceries and essentials — and apparently setting a new record for cannabis sales in March.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which also oversees the state’s legal cannabis industry, announced on Tuesday that marijuana sales were up 30% in March compared to March 2019, making it the largest month on record for the state since it legalized marijuana back in July 2015.

In all, Oregon residents spent about $84,500,000 on marijuana sales, with retailers earning an average of $135,000 each, in March of this year, OLCC told KOIN 6. In March of 2019, customers bought $61.2 million worth of marijuana from Oregon dispensaries.

Sales spiked “significantly” in the week leading up to Gov. Brown’s “Stay Home, Save Lives” executive order compared to the week before, according to OLCC’s data.
“It appears to be ‘stocking up’ type of activity because the next two weeks returned to slightly below their early March sales levels,” Matt VanSickle, an OLCC spokesperson, said.

VanSickle added that February’s sales were also 20% higher than February 2020, and that there was a 21% increase in sales from March over February.

The OLCC also said alcohol sales were up 17% in March compared to March 2019; however, a more complete picture of the state’s liquor sales will be released by April 14 due to the OLCC still accounting for returns from bars and restaurants in addition to reconciling shipments and sales and inventory still available at liquor stores.

 

[momofthegoons]

Oregon Monthly Cannabis Sales Reach $100M for First Time

May cannabis sales in Oregon reached $100 million for the first time since legalization in 2015 and it marks the third consecutive record-breaking month for the state’s industry, Willamette Week reports. According to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, total sales were $103 million, which represents a 15 percent increase from April when sales topped $89 million. In March sales reached $83 million, which had been the highest single-month total recorded in the state.

The May totals are a 60 percent increase from the same month last year. The OLCC had already adjusted its industry-derived tax expectations by $9 million before the May totals. Oregon currently generates more than $100 million annually from cannabis taxes and fees.

According to a Marijuana Moment report, state budget officials have described the post-pandemic state budget as “the largest downward revision to the quarterly forecast that our office has ever had to make.” The $9 million bump from higher-than-anticipated cannabis taxes serves as a bright spot for the state’s fiscal outlook.

State budget analysts also suggested that cannabis sales would begin to trend downward by about 5 percent “due to the lower economic outlook” associated with the pandemic.

A week-to-week analysis by Willamette Week found a gradual rise in cannabis sales as the coronavirus spread through Oregon in March and the most significant sales increase occurring just before the governor declared dispensaries an essential business amid the state’s economic shutdown to combat the virus spread. Sales then regressed, suggesting the spike was related to uncertainty over the shutdown.

 

[bulllee]

https://stonerthings.com/oregon-residents-will-vote-on-decriminalizing-all-drugs-november-election/



Oregon Residents Will Vote on Decriminalizing All Drugs in November Election
By
Ben Walker
-
Jul 13, 2020
363


Around the U.S. voters have had opportunities to vote on state laws, and in many cases in the past decade they’ve chosen to legalize marijuana. In state after state where legalization has been put to popular vote, there have been meaningful reforms passed. Still, there’s more work to be done. Some have argued that our prohibition of drugs in general has also been harmful, and they’re not just talking pot. In countries like Portugal, treatment of addiction to drugs like opioids have resulted in better outcomes because instead of criminalizing use, they’ve accepted the fact that people can and will try drugs and become addicted. By removing the stigma and punishment side of the equation, and treating addiction like the medical condition it is, they’re seeing fewer addicts and better recovery.

Oregon is the first U.S. state to put together such a proposal, decriminalizing all drugs and sponsoring support programs with the money made from legal weed. As Leafly reports, Oregon legalized cannabis in 2014 but still has poor outcomes with drug addiction programs. In fact, statistics indicate 1 or 2 Oregonians die every day from overdoses — something those who drafted the proposed law hope to change.

Drug possession cases can further erode one’s ability to stabilize their environment, leading to more drug use and a further cycling into addiction. This awful chain of events plays out routinely across America, as legislators in the 1990’s took a zero-tolerance approach to drug crimes, incarcerating thousands if not millions of addicts who could have otherwise been rehabilitated had they not been thrown in jail. The shift in thinking about addiction more as a medical condition than a legal predicament isn’t new, but has gained more steam as legalization of cannabis has shown that there are positive benefits to legalization otherwise. That is, people are seeing that drug use shouldn’t be treated as a crime, and a lot of negative consequences have stemmed from our treatment of it as criminal.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated a bad situation, too, as everything from housing to tax-funded treatment centers have been impacted negatively. Overdoses are on the rise, and jails are responsible for spreading COVID as well, which means arrests are leading to more infections, which are leading to more deaths. Experts say this is unnecessary, and it’s true. Considering how other countries have successfully treated addicts without jail time, there should be no need for such harmful, threatening practices. To get there, however, laws must be reformed.

And ultimately that’s the goal with this measure, IP44. Getting addicts the help they need without oppressive legal entanglements would not only save the state money, but save lives as well. Additionally, there could be a measure to legalize psilocybin for therapeutic use. This would put Oregon at the forefront of legalization of psychedelics for therapy, which is another welcome advancement. It’s unclear how these measures will play out as we approach November and continue to deal with a global pandemic, but given the dynamics of how the virus has changed our politics, this could be the year that drug policy sees enlightenment.

 

[CarolKing]

Oregon’s Wildfires Struck the State’s Cannabis Farms at the Worst Possible Time

As wildfires raged through Southern Oregon this month, where many of the state’s cannabis farms are located, farmers found themselves on the fighting end of a natural disaster few saw coming. The blazes came at a particularly inopportune moment: Harvest season has begun, with the bulk of...

www.wweek.com

Oregon’s Wildfires Struck the State’s Cannabis Farms at the Worst Possible Time
The fires mostly spared this year's weed crop, but the industry still took a hit.

BURN ONE: The Obenchain Fire creeps closer to Roganja’s cannabis farm in Eagle Point, Ore. IMAGE: Courtesy of Massive Seeds/Roganja.

By Sophie Peel |
Published September 23 at 10:56 AM
Updated September 23 at 10:56 AM

On Sept. 8, Roganja co-owner Peter Butch stood in the garden of his family's cannabis farm in Eagle Point, watching as the Obenchain Fire climbed over the ridge bordering his 1-acre grow.
That night, as his neighbors and family evacuated, he used a hose to drench his property until the following morning.
"It just burnt overnight, getting closer and closer, and burnt through my family's property," says Butch. "It [burnt the land] that my dad pioneered."

Butch says only 10% to 20% of the grow was destroyed by ambient heat from the wildfire. But structures used for processing and drying were burnt to ash—as well as his and his mother's homes. His irrigation system and drip lines used to water crop also melted from the heat. He expects there's $300,000 worth of damage to cannabis structures on his property.

"It's gonna cost a lot to rebuild," says Butch. "We were actually having an incredible summer up until these fires hit. Almost smoke-free, a beautiful fall. [And then] we had about nine nights of horribly smoky skies."

 

[Baron23]

Well, I'm sure that a few pounds of Psilocybin, maybe a few bags of PCP and meth, in downtown Portland will surely help calm the situation....FFS.

Mark Zuckerberg Donates $500K To Decriminalize All Drugs In Oregon​

Measure 110 would reduce all drug possession arrests to misdemeanors and cause all drug convictions to drop by 91%.



Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have put their weight behind a measure to decriminalize all drugs in Oregon. The couple contributed $500,000 to the campaign, which would also earmark a significant amount of state cannabis tax revenue toward substance abuse treatment.
Measure 110, the ballot item in question, aims to change the narrative around drug use in the state. Instead of treating drug users as criminals, campaign organizers believe substance abuse should be treated as a public health issue.
“The war on drugs has created stereotypes and misinformation about people who are addicted to drugs and people who use drugs and made it easy to make it afraid of people who use drugs,” Yes on 110 campaign manager Peter Zuckerman told The Willamette Week. “Our biggest obstacle is the stigma.”

The Facebook couple became the second biggest financial backers of Measure 110 with their donation, made through their Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Advocacy. Drug Policy Action, an advocacy organization under the Drug Policy Alliance, contributed around $2.5 million when the campaign was gathering signatures to qualify for the polls, The Oregonian reports. Since making it on the ballot, Drug Policy Action made a $862,000 to raise voter awareness about the measure.
Those caught with any drugs in their possession would no longer receive criminal penalties, under Measure 110. That includes substances like heroin, cocaine, and more. Misdemeanors would be handed out to offenders, who would enter a drug treatment and recovery program.
According to the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, the decriminalization initiative would reduce felony and misdemeanor convictions for drug possession by 91%. The measure would impact Asian, Native American, and Black Oregonians significantly. Racial disparities for possession arrests would drop 95% if the measure passed this November.

 

[momofthegoons]

Oregon Voters Approve Ballot Measure To Decriminalize All Drugs And Fund Treatment Services​

Oregon voters have approved a historic ballot initiative to decriminalize possession of all currently illicit drugs and invest in substance misuse treatment, according to a projection from The Oregonian.

The decriminalization measure will remove criminal penalties for low-level drug possession offenses—something that no other U.S. state has yet done. Instead, those caught possessing a controlled substance will be subject to a $100 fine or be required to complete a health assessment within 45 days.

The new law will also use existing tax revenue from marijuana sales, which voters legalized in 2014, to fund expanded drug treatment programs.

OR Measure 110: Decriminalize Drugs​

Last updated: 11/4/2020, 6:52:23 AM

CANDIDATE	VOTES	PERCENT
Yes done	1,223,721	58.54%
No	866,711	41.46%

2,090,432 votes counted. Estimated >95% in


“Today’s victory is a landmark declaration that the time has come to stop criminalizing people for drug use,” Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said in a press release. “Measure 110 is arguably the biggest blow to the war on drugs to date.”

“It shifts the focus where it belongs—on people and public health—and removes one of the most common justifications for law enforcement to harass, arrest, prosecute, incarcerate and deport people,” she said. “As we saw with the domino effect of marijuana legalization, we expect this victory to inspire other states to enact their own drug decriminalization policies that prioritize health over punishment.”




The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission determined in an August report that the reform will reduce felony and misdemeanor convictions for drug possession by 91 percent, and that reduction will be “substantial for all racial groups, ranging from 82.9 percent for Asian Oregonians to approximately 94 percent for Native American and Black Oregonians.”

In September, the Oregon Democratic Party formally endorsed the measure, as well as a separate proposal to legalize psilocybin mushrooms for therapeutic purposes that voters in the state also saw on their ballots on Tuesday. That measure also passed on Tuesday.

Weeks before the election, the decriminalization campaign rolled out out a series of TV and online ads promoting the measure.

Thematically, the short spots were consistent in their message: low-level drug offenses should be treated as a public health issue, and subjecting people to the criminal justice system for substance use is counterproductive and carries life-long consequences.

The reach of the advertisements was likely broadened thanks to a recent $500,000 campaign contribution from a foundation run by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife.

The recent spots aren’t the first ads that Oregonians may have seen from the campaign. It launched its first video urging a “yes” vote on the decriminalization initiative back in August.

Activists also got a signal boost from Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). In a Facebook post, the campaign shared a quote from the congressman, who endorsed the initiative as well as the separate psilocybin measure.

“One of the most urgent issues we face is the unconscionable shortage of drug treatment for people who want help as they struggle with drug addiction,” he said. “Instead of providing treatment, we treat them as criminals, making things incalculably worse for them, their families and the rest of the community while wasting huge sums of money.”

“That is why I am such a strong supporter of Ballot Measure 110,” he said. “Measure 110 will help shift Oregon to a health-based approach to a health-based drug addiction crisis. This is more compassionate, more effective, safer, and simple common sense. Please join me in voting Yes on Measure 110.”

Musician John Legend also endorsed the decriminalization measure.

Under the proposal, the decriminalization provisions must be implemented by February 1, 2021. Substance misuse treatment centers funded through the initiative must be “established and operational” by October 1, 2021.

 

[momofthegoons]

​

Top Prosecutor In Oregon’s Largest County Ends Drug Possession Cases Following Decriminalization Vote​

Another Oregon county prosecutor announced on Thursday that his office will immediately stop pursuing drug possession cases following voters’ approval of a decriminalization initiative last month—even though it doesn’t formally take effect until February.

The early move comes as state regulators are seeking out applicants to serve on a new advisory board charged with figuring out how to distribute funds for expanded drug treatment services in accordance with the ballot measure.

Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt is the third prosecutor to get ahead of the curve, proactively enacting a policy change in recognition of the will of the voters.

District attorneys in both Clackamas and Deschutes County have also made the change, but Schmidt’s decision is particularly notable because he represents the state’s most populous county.

“The passage of Ballot Measure 110 sends a clear message of strong public support that drug use should be treated as a public health matter rather than a criminal justice matter,” Schmidt said in a press release. “Past punitive drug policies and laws resulted in over-policing of diverse communities, heavy reliance on correctional facilities and a failure to promote public safety and health. It’s time to move beyond these failed practices, expand access to treatment and focus our limited law enforcement resources to target high-level, commercial drug offenses.”

Under the voter-approved decriminalization measure, simple drug possession will be treated as a Class E infraction, punishable by a maximum fine of $100 and no jail time. That fine can be waived if an individual shows a court they have completed a substance misuse assessment.

“Multnomah County voters approved Ballot Measure 110 by an overwhelming 77% margin,” a memo to staffers in Schmidt’s office says.”While the effective date of the measure is February 1, 2021, there is no justification for using law enforcement resources to conduct arrests of individuals who are unlikely to receive treatment or who would not be able to resolve their case prior to the date of the measure.”

Aside from its decriminalization provisions, the statewide ballot measure also calls for investments in substance misuse treatment, using tax revenue from legal marijuana sales.

To that end, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is currently forming an Oversight and Accountability Council that will decide how to allocate grant funds for the implementation of those treatment centers.

It’s inviting applications from people with direct experience with substance use, recovery professionals, those from communities disproportionately impacted by drug criminalization, harm reduction service providers and more.

Regulators are similarly accepting applications for members of an advisory board tasked with figuring out how to implement a separate voter-approved measure to legalize psilocybin mushrooms for therapy.

In the meantime, some complications have arisen with the decriminalization initiative. First, Gov. Kate Brown (D) proposed a budget for fiscal years 2021-2023 that would “delay implementing the financial portions of this measure until July 1, 2022” to give the state time to account for funding losses for other programs as cannabis tax revenue is redirected to the substance misuse treatment grants.

Meanwhile, Senate President Peter Courtney (D) signaled that he believes there may have to be a delay in getting the program up and running.

“When word came to me this passed, I just blinked,” he said following the vote. “This is so big, I think, in terms of public policy. I have no idea the financial ramifications of this and I don’t think anybody else does.”

He added that lawmakers “are not going to finish it in one session,” referring to turning the voter-approved measure into legislation.

In any case, the county-by-county decisions among district attorneys are encouraging to advocates.

“I applaud District Attorney Mike Schmidt and every Oregon law enforcement official that is treating personal drug possession as a health issue instead of a criminal matter,” Anthony Johnson, who served as a chief petitioner for the decriminalization ballot measure, wrote for Kind Leaf Journal. “The Drug War has not worked and it is time to implement a new, health-based approach. This is not a free-for-all to sell drugs as critics have nonsensically claimed and the sky will not fall, just as the sky remained above us when we legalized cannabis.”

The early discretionary reform action is consistent with how several counties in the state approached cannabis policy after Oregon voters approved an adult-use marijuana legalization initiative in 2014.

The vote in Oregon has also inspired efforts in neighboring Washington State to pursue a drug decriminalization model. While activists considered attempting to put it on the state ballot in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic derailed that plan—and last month, the campaign said they would soon be announcing a sponsor of a reform bill to push for its passage legislatively in the 2021 session starting January.

 

[CarolKing]

Oregon has been lax on their rules. I know we want free or low cost cannabis. It’s not fair that businesses have to jump through hoops and pay fees to sell cannabis and illegal grows have been allowed to flourish. OR knew that they had too many growers in the very beginning and didn’t do much about it. WA state has been pretty strict with our policies - good and bad. Not sure how much more we pay for weed here than in OR?

 

[Baron23]

This is kind of messed up and I never expected these kind of limits in OR. Compared to my own socialist state of Maryland, OR's limits are a bit draconian

Oregon Usable Marijuana Possession Bumped To Two Ounces But Dispensaries Lag​

This is a rule that prohibits consumers from purchasing an ounce of their favorite strain while also purchasing a few pre-rolls at the same time.



On June 23, 2021, Governor Kate Brown signed SB 408 into law which included a host of important reforms for which Oregon’s cannabis industry has been lobbying for years. The chief backer of SB 408 this session was the Oregon Retailers of Cannabis Association (ORCA).
In my view, the most important aspect of this bill for consumers is the fact that it instantly increased the amount of “useable marijuana” (that is: cannabis flower and pre-rolls) from one ounce to two ounces. It is now perfectly legal for individuals to move about the state with up to two ounces of cannabis flower or pre-rolls without fear of harassment by law enforcement or other cannabigots.

Photo by Heath Korvola/Getty Images

That being said, OLCC rules still limits the amount of usable marijuana a recreational consumer may purchase at a dispensary to no more than one ounce, so while it is now legal to carry up to two ounces in public, you can’t buy it all at one dispensary. Indeed, OLCC’s purchase rules have tracked the public-carry limits in statute in the past, and OLCC has resisted calls to increase purchase limits by retailer and consumer groups on that basis.
Indeed, this is a rule that prohibits consumers from purchasing an ounce of their favorite strain while also purchasing a few pre-rolls to try out new strains at the same time – a result that consumers find inconvenient and incoherent. Yet three weeks have passed with no action by OLCC to amend its rules on a temporary basis to allow consumers to purchase up to the legal limit allowed by law.

CALL TO ACTION​

OLCC should immediately, using its temporary rule authority, allow the sale of up to two ounces of useable marijuana by consumers at licensed dispensaries.

 

[bulllee]

Oregon launches hemp inspection program in bid to root out illegal marijuana grows​

Published August 12, 2021 | By Bart Schaneman

An illicit Oregon hemp grow between Ashland and White City as seen during a helicopter inspection conducted by Jackson County authorities.

Without question, growers are cultivating unlicensed marijuana in southern Oregon and shipping it across the United States. They have been for decades.
But are they organized criminal operations operating outside the law, or are they fronting as licensed hemp growers under cover of the boom in new grows that sprung up after the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill?
That’s what state regulators in Oregon are trying to determine through a new program that is believed to be among the first of its kind in the cannabis industry.
Regulators have started on the southern end of the state to inspect dozens of hemp farms and determine whether they are legitimate businesses – or rogue operators secretly growing marijuana.

Marijuana industry officials welcome the move, even though some business owners contend the illegal grows are not a competitive threat to the low-cost, high-quality MJ sold by licensed Oregon retailers.
Among other things, shutting down illegal grows could curb negative environmental fallout. That fallout includes the use of stolen groundwater and diverted surface water, plus the deployment of dangerous chemicals and pesticides.
In addition, there is a general concern about working in proximity of potentially dangerous criminals.
Hunter Neubauer, co-founder of Bend marijuana company Oregrown, said his company went through “hoop after hoop after hoop” to stay compliant.
“It’s really nice to see the regulatory agencies taking action,” he added.
Courtney Moran, president of the Oregon Industrial Hemp Farmers Association, echoed that sentiment.
“We need to protect the good actors,” she said.
Oregon’s new program stems from House Bill 3000, which Gov. Kate Brown signed into law in July.
It allows the newly renamed Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) and the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) to begin inspecting licensed hemp fields across the state to ensure that the registered hemp growers are not growing marijuana instead.
“If you’re a good actor and compliant, you have nothing to worry about,” Moran said.
Yet some hemp industry representatives worry that legitimate growers could be caught up in the enforcement effort for inadvertently growing hemp that exceeds the 0.3% THC limit.
Inspections underway
So far, regulators have inspected 134 hemp farms in southern Oregon to take THC samples, Sunny Summers, cannabis policy coordinator for the Agriculture Department, said Tuesday during a webinar hosted by the Oregon Industrial Hemp Farmers Association.
No illegal marijuana grows have been reported discovered yet.
As of July 23, Oregon had 723 registered growers on a total of 6,539 acres, indoor and outdoor production.
Summers said teams from the OLCC and ODA, along with local sheriff departments, are starting by visiting all registered hemp farms in Josephine and Jackson counties, then visiting the rest of the licensed hemp grows in the state in subsequent seasons.
The process is simple. The inspectors come in, look around, take a few samples and send them to a location in Medford to test for THC. (This is separate from the THC pre-harvest testing private labs are doing throughout the state.)
Growers are not given notice of the inspections and will not receive their test results, Summers added, unless the hemp tests hot – then enforcement action will be taken.
The inspections are paid for as a cooperative effort of the OLCC and ODA, Summers said.
So far, Summers has heard a mix of both positive and negative feedback from growers.
For instance, 31 operations have refused to let the regulators access their sites, saying the manager or owner was not on-site. Summers said most of those refusals have been resolved.
“We’re not out here to play gotcha,” she said.
The state wants to get a handle on whether illegal marijuana is hiding behind a hemp license, Summers added.
Concerns over organized crime
Federal law allows states to regulate hemp themselves – but, after this year, only with permission and signoff from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Oregon is operating under provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill through this growing season and is planning to send some parts of this plan in the rules to the USDA for approval, according to Summers.
The state is working on draft rules now to include some of the USDA rules, such as the cushion that protects growers from criminal negligence charges when hemp tests between 0.3% THC and 1% THC.
In May, local authorities in Jackson County flew over marijuana and hemp operations to identify which farms were legal and which were illicit based on those grows that were set up on land not licensed for legal production.

 

[bulllee]

NEWS BRIEF

Oregon regulators suggest extending cannabis grow license pause until 2024​

Published 5 hours ago



Oregon’s cannabis regulatory agency is recommending that state lawmakers continue a moratorium on new marijuana cultivation licenses until 2024.
In 2019, Oregon lawmakers voted to halt issuing new recreational marijuana licenses for two years, citing overproduction that was causing the market’s wholesale prices to tank.

The statutory moratorium expires next year.
Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission Executive Director Steve Marks said the moratorium extension will be recommended to the state Legislature and governor’s office.
In related news, the commission approved penalties for five cannabis companies that violated state rules.
The following companies will surrender their recreational marijuana licenses:

• Clay Wolf, processor, seven violations.
• Takilma Road Operator, producer, seven violations.
• Hydroberry Holdings, producer, three violations.
• River Dew Farms, producer, three violations.
• Waterwheel Ventures, producer, three violations.

 

[bulllee]

NEWS BRIEF

Marijuana MSO Curaleaf faces more Oregon suits over THC-CBD mix-up​

Published 12 hours ago



Marijuana multistate operator Curaleaf now has been hit with four federal lawsuits in connection with a product-labeling snafu in Oregon that resulted in some customers ingesting high-THC instead of CBD wellness drops.
The case, which involves the Select brand in Oregon, underscores the importance of sound quality-assurance processes.

Curaleaf completed its acquisition of Portland-based Cura Cannabis, which owned the Select brand, in February 2020.
According to the lawsuits filed between Sept. 29 and Oct. 6, at least three people went to hospital emergency departments after suffering adverse reactions.
One elderly man was taken to emergency because of concerns he was having a stroke. He wound up allegedly undergoing an unnecessary surgery to remove what doctors believed was a potentially infected hematoma in his leg.
The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, which issued an expanded product recall on Sept. 24, said 13 people reported taking the mislabeled drops.
Massachusetts-based Curaleaf told MJBizDaily on Friday that it doesn’t comment on litigation.
But a spokeswoman emailed a copy of a statement the company issued late last month, which attributed the mix-up to an “unintentional human error at our facility that led to the production of a batch of CBD drops that were actually THC drops and vice versa.”
Curaleaf said it has worked with Oregon regulators to recall the two batches in question. They were produced in May.
Approximately 500 bottles of CBD-labeled drops that contained elevated THC were sold before the recall as well as 630 bottles of THC-labeled drops that contained CBD but little or no THC, the company said.
The Oregonian reported that some customers who took drops from the mislabeled bottles might have received more than 30 milligrams of THC.
Curaleaf apologized to customers affected by the mistake and said it is “grateful” to regulators and individuals “who brought this serious matter to our attention.”
“In response to this event, as initial steps, we are reviewing production practices and controls to improve quality assurance processes, and conducting additional training sessions with our production team beginning immediately and continuing regularly,” Curaleaf said in its statement.
Oregon requires marijuana products to be tested, but the testing is done before packaging.
State regulators continue to investigate but, in the meantime, have allowed Curaleaf to continue normal business operators in Oregon, according to The Oregonian.
Each of the four lawsuits against Curaleaf, filed in U.S. District Court in Portland by the same attorney, seek punitive damages up to 1% of Curaleaf’s net worth.

 

[bulllee]

Oregon county declares state of emergency over illegal marijuana grows​

By MJBizDaily Staff
October 14, 2021

A county in southern Oregon is asking for more help to deal with a flood of illegal marijuana grows, declaring a state of emergency and asking for the governor and lawmakers to step in.

According to the Associated Press, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners said county and state regulators as well as law enforcement are overrun by unlicensed cannabis cultivators.

The board asked for assistance in its fight against illicit operators in a letter sent to Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Tina Kotek.

The commission said the situation is leading to an “imminent threat to the public health and safety of our citizens from the illegal production of cannabis in our county.”

The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission started inspecting hemp grows in the southern part of the state in August to root out illegal cannabis growers.

In September, more than 100 licensed hemp producers in the region were found to be growing marijuana illegally, according to the OLCC.

And, according to the commissioners’ letter, Jackson County regulators had issued almost 700 code violations related to marijuana production or processing by September, more than twice that of all of 2016.

The OLCC also recently recommended that state lawmakers continue a moratorium on new marijuana cultivation licenses until 2024.

 

[bulllee]

Oregon county officials seek National Guard help versus illicit cannabis grows​

By MJBizDaily Staff
October 19, 2021

Commissioners from a county in Southern Oregon are asking for help from the state’s National Guard in their fight against illegal cannabis grow sites.
According to the Associated Press, Jackson County commissioners requested that Oregon Gov. Kate Brown send in the National Guard to help enforce the law in a situation that is worsening.
Jackson County recently declared a state of emergency last week to deal with the flood of illegal marijuana grows in the state.
On the same day, the Associated Press reported, police raided an illegal cultivation site that had about 2 tons of processed cannabis and 17,500 plants.
Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney said he agrees the National Guard should be sent in.
Do you have a ticket MJBizCon in Las Vegas, October 19-22?
Tens of thousands of cannabis executives already have reservations for the most anticipated event of the year:

• 1,100 exhibits for cultivators, manufacturers and retailers.
• 70+ presentations, plus a keynote by Shark Tank’s Daymond John
• Networking and partnerships

“You can’t solve it just at the local level, and you cannot solve it, I’m afraid, just at the usual state level and have some more state troopers down there,” Courtney told the AP.
“The National Guard, they’re going to have to get deployed down there some way or other.”
Brown is holding off on deploying the National Guard but could reconsider next year, her office said.
There is precedent for such a move.
In 2019, for example, 150 National Guard troops were deployed in Northern California to go after illegal cannabis farms.

 

[Baron23]

Kind of a nothing burger, I think...eh?

Oregon Secretary Of State’s Marijuana Consulting Gig Raises Questions About New Audit On Preparing For Federal Legalization​

“This appears to be an ethics violation and if it isn’t then Oregon’s ethics laws are broken. An elected official cannot take funds for personal use from someone they regulate.”

By Ben Botkin, Oregon Capital Chronicle

The Oregon secretary of state’s office released an audit of the state’s regulation of the cannabis industry on Friday on the heels of revelations that the agency’s head, Shemia Fagan, accepted a side job as consultant to a cannabis company in February.

Fagan’s consulting work with Veriede Holding LLC, an affiliate of La Mota cannabis dispensary chain, was first reported by Willamette Week on Thursday. The next day, secretary of state officials released the audit and took steps to distance Fagan from the analysis as much as possible.

Fagan recused herself on February 15 from the audit process after calling the Oregon Government Ethics Commission about the consulting work, public records show. They show Fagan contacted ethics officials in February, when the audit was only a little more than two months away from release—and much work was already underway. Her work with the company began shortly after her recusal.

No one is accusing Fagan of breaking any laws. And her secretary of state staffers say Fagan’s recusal exceeded what’s legally required because any action stemming from her office’s audit of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, which regulates cannabis, would come from the Legislature or the commission, not her office.

“Secretary Fagan recused herself because in her private life, she has a limited consulting contract with a company that’s regulated by OLCC,” Deputy Secretary of State Cheryl Myers said in a press conference about the audit’s release. “While a conflict of interest technically doesn’t exist, the secretary voluntarily imposed the most restrictive limitation on herself because she respects ethics rules as a floor, not a ceiling.”

Nevertheless, the Republican leaders in the Legislature said Fagan should resign.

Meanwhile, Gov. Tina Kotek (D) called for an ethics investigation into the issue.

“It’s critical that Oregonians trust their government,” Kotek said in a statement to the Capital Chronicle. “That is why I am urging the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to immediately investigate this situation. Additionally, I am requesting that the Oregon Department of Justice examine the Secretary of State’s recently released audit of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission and its cannabis program.”
Fagan was not at the press conference, and she was not available for an interview.

State audits director stresses independence​

Kip Memmott, the office’s audits director, stressed the role of professional auditing staff in the analysis.

“All audit work, all conclusions or methodologies or recommendations are all generated and done by the professional audit team,” he said. “The final call on all of our audit reports is me… I make all decisions on what is in our final audit reports and they are approved under my issuance.”

Before Fagan’s February 15 recusal, Fagan asked in a December 2021 meeting with audit staff if the team had interviewed Rosa Cazares, the chief executive officer of La Mota, the Willamette Week reported. The next year, audit staff interviewed her, among others.

Asked about the report, Ben Morris, a secretary of state spokesman, told the Capital Chronicle: “Cazares was one of two dozen interviews conducted by auditors during the scoping process, which is the standard process for conducting an audit. The ultimate decision about the scope of the report was made by the auditors. No decision is ever based on one single source.”

Memmott said the secretary of state can tell him what to audit, and auditing staff map out the plan and present it to Fagan.

“She does not approve that plan,” Memmott said. “She does not weigh in on that plan. That is again our internal management approval, but she is informed.”

Fagan was involved in two meetings about the audit before she recused herself, Memmott said.

“The secretary was not involved in the reporting process, reviewing the report, providing feedback on the report—on any of the conclusions at all,” Memmott said.

Fagan, who’s paid $77,0000 annually, appears to be an outlier in state government. By early afternoon, communications staff for the Oregon Health Authority, Department of Human Services, Treasury, Business Oregon, Department of Environmental Quality, Oregon Parks and Recreation, Attorney General, Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, Department of Revenue, Department of Transportation, Department of Administrative Services, Department of Forestry, Department of Forestry, Water Resources Department, Department of Corrections and the Oregon Lottery said their directors or interim directors did not have any paid side jobs.

Colt Gill, outgoing director of the Department of Education, taught some classes at the University of Oregon on his own time in 2018, 2019 and 2020, according to Marc Siegel, a spokesman. He currently doesn’t have any side jobs.

Other agency communications staff did not respond to a request for information by early afternoon.

Morris, Fagan’s spokesperson, said she has no other clients besides this one and is paid as an independent contractor. She also teaches a class at Willamette University, Morris said.

“Secretary Fagan prioritizes her public service and completes any work for her private contracts during her free time,” Morris said.

He declined to answer a question about how much she is being paid as a consultant, saying it was outside the scope of his job. Fagan did not respond to a question about her pay, either.

The news prompted Republican legislative leaders on Friday to release a statement, calling on Fagan to step down.

“She must resign,” Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp and House Republican Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson said in a joint statement. “This appears to be an ethics violation and if it isn’t then Oregon’s ethics laws are broken. An elected official cannot take funds for personal use from someone they regulate.”

Audit results​

The audit found the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, which oversees the cannabis industry, should consider changes to better serve the state and prepare for federal approval of marijuana, which is currently ranked as a Schedule I substance. That means federal authorities consider it has no medical value and has a serious potential for abuse.

But it only remains completely illegal in three U.S. states.

Its federal status poses various challenges, however, the audit found. There is a moratorium on new licenses and federal restrictions on interstate commerce, and companies are barred from many banks.

That impacts Oregon. For example, Business Oregon, the state’s economic development agency, won’t work with cannabis businesses because of concerns about losing its federal funding, auditors found.

Auditors also are concerned that the commission’s licensing system cannot track demographic data, making it difficult to track efforts to help communities of color disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs

Auditor recommendations include:

• Reconsider regulations that require steel doors and 24-hour video surveillance at cannabis businesses.
• Start to obtain demographic data and reports when the commission replaces its licensing system. Auditors found more data is needed to ensure diverse communities are included in the state’s efforts and have access.
• Complete an assessment of how the moratorium on new licensees has impacted the state.

Some of Oregon’s congressional delegation have long been concerned about barriers to the industry, especially Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a member of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus. Last year, the U.S. House passed a bill removing marijuana from the controlled substances list. The bill died in the U.S. Senate.

U.S. lawmakers in the House have proposed more reforms in the current Congress. One of Oregon’s recently elected U.S. representatives, Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who represents the Fifth District, broke ranks with some in her party to co-sponsor federal cannabis reform, the Oregon Capital Insider reported.