New Oregon cannabis regulations are set to roll out soon that are geared towards the state's licensed cannabis growers. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) is the one that will be implementing the new regulations and seeking to give the state more oversight over its cannabis harvests.
As you can imagine, growers are already pushing back. They say that these new rules could affect the unpredictable timing of harvesting the marijuana plants at their peak.
Black Market Crackdown
One of the major reasons why many states in the US have approved medicinal cannabis is to push out the illicit operators. If marijuana is legal, then there is no need for 'drug' dealers.
The OLCC's main idea is to have a monitored and regulated market that makes it too difficult for black market cannabis producers to survive. At the moment, the illicit cannabis market still exists, and, in fact, some states are finding the cannabis black market to be thriving as they transition into legalizing marijuana.
Oregon regulators worry that legal cultivators are sending their surplus crops to the black market. The OLCC is mulling over a new set of rules that track how much product cannabis growers are producing and where it goes after.
The fact is that the black market has to get its marijuana from somewhere, and Oregon wants to make sure it's not from the state's legal and licensed growers.
Growers Strike Back
Ask any marijuana cultivator, and they'll tell you that timing is everything when it comes to marijuana cultivation and harvesting. In order to produce high-quality cannabis, it requires precise growing techniques.
The growers in Oregon feel that the proposed regulations will disrupt their growing process. The new regulations would require growers to give the OLCC a heads up about when their crops will be harvested, dried, and cured.
The regulators want growers to give them their anticipated harvest dates, and growers think that could be extremely difficult. The drying period is another stage regulators want to be made aware of, as that stage is where most of the crops are being diverted to the black market.
Growers argue that cannabis is not like other crops and that quality should be of the utmost importance because the marijuana is going into medicinal and therapeutic products.
What do you think about the Oregon cannabis regulations? Whose side are you on?
>> New York Cannabis: Patients Can Now Exchange Opioids for Medical Marijuana
Featured Image: Electrochemical Society
