Pubdate: Wed, 26 Aug 2015
Source: Daily Astorian, The (OR)
Copyright: 2015 The Daily Astorian
Contact:  http://www.dailyastorian.info/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1629
Author: Erick Bengel

OLCC ROLLS OUT PLANS FOR RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA

A new fleet of inspectors and a new product tracking system are in the works.

North Coast communities have been scrambling to deal with the 
fallout, both real and imagined, of Measure 91, which was passed in 
November 2014 and legalizes the use and possession of recreational 
marijuana for Oregon adults.

Meanwhile, it has been "all marijuana, all the time," for the Oregon 
Liquor Control Commission, according Steven Marks, the agency's 
executive director, at a lunch in Astoria Tuesday.

With a looming deadline of Jan. 4 to begin accepting applications for 
licenses to set up marijuana operations, the agency has much to 
accomplish in a short amount of time.

It's job is pretty simple: Oregon statute gives them a mandate to 
know what's going into a product, to track the product along the 
supply chain and to make the product available to Oregon residents in 
a system that the agency licenses and regulates.

When it comes to marijuana, Marks knows the numbers:

Of the 2.9 million Oregonians over the age of 21, roughly 20 percent 
have reported using marijuana within the last year. Of those users, 
about 30 percent - medical patients and "super users" - accounts for 
70 percent of marijuana consumption in the state. That leaves about 
70 percent of users - probably recreational users, Marks said - 
responsible for the remaining 30 percent of consumption.

Unlike Colorado and Washington - the first two states to legalize 
recreational pot - "we have a highly evolved marijuana grow 
community," in part, because the plant is easier to grow outdoors in 
Oregon, Marks said. "In Oregon, we're transferring an industry in 
from an illegal to a legal system."

Sounds simple enough. But "simple" doesn't mean "easy."

In the pipeline

On the policy side, the agency needs to finalize the rules for 
licensing marijuana businesses and tracking product from grower to 
market. These rules must be in place before the agency can set up the 
online licensing application and fee system.

The agency recently announced 30 new full-time positions. A handful 
of these positions are policy-based while the bulk are responsible 
for licensing and inspections. The agency hopes to have each spot 
filled by early October and the personnel trained on the new rules 
and system-to-be-developed before November, Marks said.

Then there's the "seed to sale" system for keeping tabs on the 
marijuana itself.

"Seed to sale" will require the barcoding of viable seedlings. The 
agency can then track a batch's location, including who grew it and 
where. This is, in fact, a standard held to all legal consumables for 
the sake of consumer protection, one that allows for product recalls 
and the ability to trace the product back to its source.

"Seed to sale" also helps ensure that a licensee maintains compliance 
with the U.S. Department of Justice's "Cole Memorandum," which spells 
out the federal government's marijuana-related prohibitions. These 
include not selling weed to minors and keeping the drug off the black market.

"We want to see people who can play by the rules, and who play by the 
rules even when markets are tougher," Marks said.

He added that "seed to sale" serves as a substitute for the 
three-tiered system the OLCC applies to alcohol but not to marijuana.

Someone involved in the distribution of alcohol must be licensed as a 
producer or a wholesaler or a retailer, but never more than one at a 
time. But someone involved in distributing marijuana can be licensed 
in any number of capacities at once: grower, processor, wholesaler, 
retailer, laboratory tester, researcher, etc. This complicates the 
agency's ability to follow product, a deficiency for which the 
barcoding of plants may compensate.

Though the agency has been moving at full speed in recent months, 
"there hasn't been resistance to doing this," Ranee Niedermeyer, OLCC 
government affairs and communications director, said. "People know 
it's hard, but they're in there, and they're doing it."

Hashing out details

Once hired and trained, the new OLCC workforce won't have a great 
deal to confront on the North Coast - at least not right away.

Astoria has three officially licensed medical marijuana shops, and 
when Oregon Senate Bill 460 kicks in Oct. 1, the shops will be 
allowed to sell recreational marijuana.

Across the bay in Warrenton, however, the City Commission voted not 
to allow medical marijuana dispensaries to sell recreational 
marijuana. Warrenton doesn't have any medical marijuana dispensaries operating.

Neither does Gearhart, and there are none in the works, according to 
Gearhart City Manager Chad Sweet. However, in October 2014, the city 
voted to implement a 5 percent tax on gross sales of marijuana and 
marijuana-infused products to cardholders under the Oregon Medical 
Marijuana Program, and a 10 percent tax on gross sales to non-cardholders.

Seaside has two medical marijuana dispensaries, but City Manager Mark 
Winstanley doesn't know if the City Council will allow them to sell 
recreational marijuana come October.

Cannon Beach's business license application doesn't allow for 
businesses that violate federal law, so, at the moment, medical and 
recreational marijuana facilities are off the table since marijuana 
remains federally illegal.

Once the OLCC starts accepting applications in January, the agency 
will likely prioritize the licensing of growers so that they can to 
get their product to retail sooner rather than later, Marks said. The 
agency will then start licensing retail around fall 2016, he said.

One pressing question hasn't gone unmentioned within the agency: Will 
the Oregon Liquor Control Commission change its name?

The agency hasn't taken a position, Marks said. However, some people 
have floated the suggestion "Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Control" commission.

It would be cost-efficient at any rate: the commission wouldn't 
necessarily have to change the acronym on its letterhead.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom