SALEM, Ore. - People flocked to Oregon's firstever marijuana growers' fair Saturday, where a competition for best pot plants will be held with the winning entries to be displayed later this month at the Oregon State Fair.

The two-day event underscores how the industry is starting to go mainstream in Oregon, one of four states to have legalized recreational marijuana use, along with Washington, D.C.

Donald Morse, a pot grower who conceived the Oregon Cannabis Growers' Fair, said the fair aims to "demystify" marijuana.

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SALEM (AP) - People flocked to Oregon's first-ever marijuana growers' fair on Saturday where a competition for best pot plants was being held, with the winners to be displayed at the Oregon State Fair.

The inaugural two-day Oregon Cannabis Growers' Fair underscores how the once-illicit marijuana industry is starting to go mainstream in Oregon, one of four states to have legalized recreational marijuana use, along with Washington, D.C.

Ed Rosenthal, known in pot circles as the Guru of Ganja, poked, prodded, rubbed and sniffed several dozen marijuana plants - some of which were so big they engulfed him in an exhibition hall on the Oregon State Fairgrounds. He and other judges were picking nine winning plants - three in each of three categories - that will be displayed at the Oregon State Fair for two weeks starting later this month.

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Winning Pot-Plant Entries Will Be Displayed at the Oregon State Fair

SALEM (AP) - From seed providers to a company offering mechanized bud trimmers, those involved in the once-illicit marijuana industry in the Pacific Northwest got ready on Friday for the first-ever Oregon Cannabis Growers' Fair.

Reggae music thumped from Savant Plant Technologies' display as owner James Knox, 38, of Corvallis, set up his do-it-yourself grow package, including peat and microorganisms to stimulate plant growth, among more than 80 exhibitors registered for the two-day fair that starts Saturday.

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You're Welcome

IN THE PAST, I've written about how long I've been making super-strong cannabis-infused cookies [Cannabuzz, June 24, 2015], and how their strength has resulted in some serious mishaps [Cannabuzz, June 1, 2016]. For two decades, people have asked about my trade secret. But unless the person asking was an Oregon Medical Marijuana Program patient of mine, I've always politely sidestepped how I manage to make my cookies "so damn strong."

But since I'm not planning on opening up an edibles company, I recently decided it was time to share what I know. Sadly for some of you, this involves the Great White Devil to most of the GOP... science. If facts and the like offend you, I suggest chalking up the how and why of that part to the magic of one J.H. Christ.

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WHAT'S GOING ON with the medical marijuana program? Is it going away?

I THINK SO, and I hope so, and I expect rowdy emails for saying so. After 18 years, the program has run its course. Going forward, I would like to see everything combined into one big casserole, with protections baked in for current medical program patients. That way, we curtail the waste of two big Oregon agencies intensively regulating one little plant.

The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act (OMMA) was enacted in 1998. It has been amended several times, and today, there's significant overlap with the emerging retail market. Back in the day, the OMMA was drafted to protect patients and their caregivers from criminal liability. Those were commendable goals, but the program never made sense from a business perspective. That would be fine, of course, if the OMMA hadn't created a sizable market.

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Both Medical and Recreational Marijuana Commerce Would Be Outlawed If Measure Passes

In a unanimous vote Wednesday night, Grants Pass City Council referred an ordinance to the November ballot that would ban virtually all forms of marijuana commerce in the city.

The decision comes about a year after the council voted to enact two ordinances banning marijuana, one dealing with recreational marijuana and the other dealing with medical marijuana. The new version approved Wednesday consolidates both medical and recreational into a single ordinance.

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For One Whole Day

IT WAS the mid '80s, and I was living in the jewel of Northern California: Sacramento, where the only culture was the agriculture. I was doing my time in high school, trying to sort out all the things that go on during those golden years, particularly trying to figure out what was "cool." And that included cannabis.

I had already tried drinking. My first few forays involved beer-or, at least, some Mickey's Big Mouths, as this was still a long time before craft microbrews were a thing. Not long after, someone produced a bottle of tequila. My first time drinking it, I quite literally went blind in the city's only 24-hour doughnut shop, and then proceeded to vomit until the early hours of the next day in their tiny, filthy bathroom.

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You Can Make a Pot Commercial, but There Are Hoops to Jump Through

I'm filming a pot commercial! I can do that, right?

YES, YOU CAN definitely make a pot commercial. Before you start, though, you should study up on the rules for pot commercials and pot ads in general. You should also note that distribution of your ad might be limited, depending on your approach. I'll explain.

Back when Measure 91 passed, you and your friends assigned the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) the especially tricky job of regulating pot ads. This job is particularly tough because our state constitution contains the broadest speech protections in the nation (resulting in a naked bike ride, tons of strip clubs, and no campaign finance restrictions). So although OLCC latitude in this area may be cramped, the agency took a whack at it. They came up with a few rules you might have expected; others may surprise you.

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PORTLAND, Ore. - In two weeks, more than 100 of Oregon's top niche horticulturists will gather to celebrate their craft at a fair considered the first of its kind, one that promises $10,000 in prizes and colorful, proud ribbons to the best among them.

Farmers will be judged "4-H" style, they've been told, though their crops inspire categories that are far from heartland tradition. Sativa, indica, hybrid. These guys harvest pot. The inaugural Oregon Cannabis Growers' Fair, according its website, "is an opportunity to bring the entire industry under one roof to learn from 'master growers,'" and will feature the state's "first-ever cannabis live plant competition."

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A public hearing Wednesday about a proposed tax on the retail sale of marijuana in Josephine County blossomed to include comments about problems with marijuana growing operations.

No opposition to the tax surfaced from a handful of people who addressed the county Board of Commissioners at the Basker Auditorium, although there were plenty of suggestions about how to spend the money - including education, treatment, health and public safety programs.

But the subject of the hearing and a later comment period grew to include complaints about marijuana growing operations, including complaints that they use too much water, smell skunky, are enclosed by ugly fences and allow pesticides to float away on the wind.

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Marijuana Growers Will Compete for Blue Ribbons in Oregon, Another Indicator of Cannabis' Booming Reputation As Cash Crop

SEATTLE - To the list of breakthroughs in an ever-changing world where cars drive themselves, faces are surgically transplanted and Russian hackers are accused of manipulating the U.S. presidential campaign, add this development: marijuana growers can now compete for blue ribbons in the state fair.

That's what Oregon officials say will happen at their fair in Salem next month. Besides tastiest apple pie and plumpest pig, pot will be judged for its finer attributes, including color, aroma, leaf structure and lack of pests.

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Yep, They Are.

What's the deal with cannabidiol (CBD) pet treats? Are they really a thing?

YES, CBD-INFUSED pet treats are definitely a thing. They are often marketed to "all pets, large and small," and you can order them online from any number of manufacturers. As with any product, some of the websites look better than others. Some even contain product testimonials from pet owners, which can make for delightful reading.

Pet treats are pricey little morsels designed to relieve ill and aging animals. Sellers also promote them for anxiety and "bonding" issues. These treats are infused with non-psychoactive CBD and they are marketed to the humane souls among us concerned with arthritic rabbits, not the guy who blows smoke in his cat's face.

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WHEN MEASURE 91 passed, I heard more than one prohibitionist sneer at the idea and ask, "What's next, legalizing all the other drugs?" And certainly there is a small, albeit growing, movement to decriminalize all drugs, and to treat the use of them more as a public health issue than a criminal one. But this being 'Murica, how would that work? What would it look like? Sweet Jesus, I'm glad you asked, because that's what this week's column is about. Welcome to...

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Critics Call the Assertion an 'Opinion,' and Author Admits It's A 'Guess'

Medical marijuana growers in Oregon are producing far more product than they or their customer-patients can consume, feeding a black market that doesn't appear to be going away soon, according to a controversial new report.

An estimated 70 percent of the crop will be distributed illegally next year, according to a draft report from the Portland consulting firm ECONorthwest, which has been hired by Josephine County and the city of Grants Pass to study the local economy, including the marijuana industry.

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It's been suspected for some time that a lot more marijuana was being produced by medical growers than could be consumed by patients, and now the evidence is beginning to surface.

First came the arrest of a Jackson County dispensary owner in Siskiyou County for allegedly hauling marijuana across the California line for illegal sale.

Now an economic analysis has concluded that a huge percentage of marijuana ostensibly grown in Josephine County for medical patients is instead feeding the black market.

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It's Not Hard, But You'll Need to Study Up-and Pony Up

Do I really have to pay $100 to work in recreational marijuana?

YES, YOU REALLY DO. And you must pass a test and a criminal background check. If you conquer these three labors like a modern-day Heracles, you should be golden.

Oregon recently followed Colorado's lead in requiring that weed industry workers carry papers. Whereas Colorado workers sport classy "badges," however, Oregon workers will just be getting "permits." This permit requirement applies to everyone toiling in the Oregon Liquor Control Commission's (OLCC) seed-to-sale system. Their counterparts in the medical marijuana program, as well as lab and research certificate employees, are exempt. So if you really, really hate tests, or you are a pauper or felonious type, this may not be your enterprise.

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Potfolio. Get It?

POP QUIZ! Remember last week when we talked about how cool it was that banks are full-on supporters and cheerleaders for cannabis businesses?

Trick question. Actually, last week I wrote about the exact opposite of that. It turns out that obtaining and keeping even a simple checking account is difficult beyond measure for legal cannabis enterprises. I didn't even touch on how impossible it is for a canna business to get funding from a traditional bank. It was sort of a bummer column, actually.

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Cops and Prosecutors Are Embracing a Radical Idea: Not Filing Drug Possession Cases

HERE'S THE DEAL: People are using drugs in this city, despite decades of law enforcement's best efforts.

That fight has landed thousands of people in jail and prison-far too many of them people of color. It's created hardships for Portlanders who need jobs and a place to stay, but find that a criminal record has closed the door to those things. It's led to tensions between police and communities of color that are playing out-vividly, tragically-every day around the country.

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Is That State's Brand-New Cannabis Initiative Any Good?

What do you think of California's brand new pot initiative?

IT'S A MIXED BAG, but I'm getting on board. Last week, California announced that the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) officially has a home on the state's November ballot. Over the past year, the concept of legalization among California voters has been polling very well. It seems almost certain the AUMA will pass.

My law firm's California attorneys have been looking at AUMA intensively for the past few months, and report that the 62-pager is more complex than Washington, Oregon, and Colorado's initiatives. For example, AUMA provides for an astonishing 19 separate business licenses, and its distribution model recalls the convoluted rules of booze. For these and other reasons AUMA has many opponents, even among pot boosters.

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It's Still Impossible for Cannabis Businesses to Open Bank Accounts

AT A RECENT cannabis event I went to, the crowd was made up of cannabis professionals: dispensary owners and staff, growers, edible makers, processors, and wholesalers. Among the speakers was the head of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission's (OLCC) cannabis program. During the Q&A, a grower brought up how that very week, his bank account had been shut down-the third time in the past year.

"The bank said it's because I'm involved with cannabis," he said, "and I wanted to ask you a question: I pay my taxes and fees to the OLCC in cash, which I made growing and selling cannabis. I take it the OLCC has a bank account. Correct?"

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