In January, we put together a summary of 30 or so draft bills up for consideration in the 2017 Oregon legislative session. As predicted, many of these bills have fallen by the wayside; others have been revised or consolidated. As of today, Oregon has enacted three new laws related to marijuana, with three more bills pending. In addition, three draft bills wait in the wings, regarding industrial hemp.
Today, we are one month away from the state’s constitutional deadline for adjournment sine die, which is Monday, July 10, 2017. Everyone goes home at the end of that day, and if a bill hasn’t been approved by both chambers, we say “so long” until 2018.
Below is a summary of Oregon’s three new marijuana laws, its three proposed marijuana laws, and its three proposed hemp laws.
The New Marijuana Laws
A few weeks back, we gave a comprehensive overview of Senate Bill 1057, the most impactful bill to date, and another large step in combining Oregon’s medical and recreational marijuana programs. The bill has since been signed into law by Governor Brown and because it was an “emergency” bill, it took effect on May 30.
This bill quietly became law back on April 21. It removes provisions related to marijuana offenses from the state Uniform Controlled Substances Act. It also removes and/or reduces various criminal penalties related to marijuana crimes by unlicensed operators. The thrust of this bill was to treat marijuana crimes more like alcohol crimes and it achieves that purpose. Because penalties for marijuana offenses were scattered throughout the Oregon statutes, this one has an enormous amount of tedious, conforming amendments, to something like 125 statutes.
This law is similar in nature to SB 3023, albeit much shorter, and it also took effect back on April 21. The takeaway here is the amendment, clarification, and reconciliation of statues related to minors possessing and purchasing both marijuana and alcohol. Pretty basic stuff.
The Proposed Marijuana Laws
This is a classic “gut and stuff” bill, which started out as a measure to promote cannabis research, but now, in its fourth proposed amendment (“Dash 4”), deals with intergovernmental taxation as to the state and Indian tribes. Specifically, it would allow the Oregon Department of Revenue to enter into agreements with the governing body of federally recognized Indian tribes (read: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs). Under those agreements, the state would make rebate payments to the tribes for an estimate of the tax on marijuana items sold by tribes. This one left the Joint Committee on June 5, and was referred to Ways and Means, which is what happens whenever a bill has a fiscal impact. It’s hard to say right now whether a version of this bill will become law, but it seems probable.
This bill would establish an Oregon Cannabis Commission, to report back to the legislature on the status and condition of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (which the legislature keeps curtailing). The idea here is to find a way to help medical marijuana patients who could might otherwise be left behind. Among other things, this bill contains the controversial “20 pound amendment” which would allow designated medical growers to sell up to 20 pounds of excess flower annually into the OLCC market. Like HB 2198, this one also recently made it out of the Joint Committee, and was referred to Ways and Means.
This is the 2017 Oregon cannabis “Christmas tree bill” and it was given a “do pass” recommendation on June 6 by the Joint Committee, at its 39th proposed amendment (“Dash 40”), and it’s now in the Senate Committee. The myriad of changes are too lengthy to summarize here, but a few notable elements include: (1) a requirement for the immediate suspension of any marijuana licensee for diversion of product to the black market; and (2) an allowance for limited processing by small, licensed OLCC producers (<5,000 square feet of canopy; water or mechanical extraction only).
The Proposed Industrial Hemp Laws
This bill defines the terms “industrial hemp concentrate” and “industrial hemp extract.” It allows hemp licensees to deliver hemp to OLCC processors, for non-THC based processing (which will be welcome news to both hemp and marijuana licensees). This bill was passed by the Senate on June 7, and does not create a fiscal. This means it will avoid the quagmire and Ways and Means, and should become law.
This bill would tidy up the industrial hemp regulatory scheme generally, which is a slender program with many gaps. Among other things, it would create a pilot research program, create a seed certification program, and provide for accreditation of testing laboratories for testing industrial hemp commodities and products that are ingested, inhaled or topically applied to skin or hair. This bill was referred to Ways and Means on April 26, but seems likely to pass.
This bill would create on Oregon Industrial Hemp Commission, and nothing more. Like HB 2371, it was referred to Ways and Means on April 26, but is non-controversial and likely to pass.
This article originally posted …: Canna Law Blog
