Now that Labor Day is within the rear view and individuals are paying consideration once more, it looks as if a great time to drop a line on Oregon hashish. Listed here are some highlights, to launch you into fall.
OLCC’s 2024-2028 Strategic Plan
A draft of the 2024-2028 Strategic Plan was first circulated at a Fee assembly in June, and finalized and printed someday final month. The Plan covers each alcohol and hashish, as a result of OLCC regulates each of these issues. The Plan might be very attention-grabbing and salient to varied folks within the Fee; much less so to a lot of the remainder of us. Nonetheless, it accommodates a few highlights for the native hashish trade.
License reassignment program
Lastly. The Plan units forth a delayed initiative to “set up standards and course of for marijuana license reassignment that provide alternatives for certified members of underserved communities and people traditionally affected by hashish criminalization.” That longish, unpaced sentence belies a welcome sentiment.
The license reassignment idea got here in by means of House Bill 4016 within the 2022 legislative session. If you’re within the background on this, please learn our 2022 posts here and here. And in addition this submit from February, the place I defined why this ought to be coming in 2024. My guess (only a guess) is that delays right here stem from OLCC conferral with the State DOJ, to attempt to minimize lawsuit exposure. Regardless, let’s hope the Fee can discover a solution to get extra range into the license pool.
Improved licensing processes
The Plan adopts a purpose to “enhance licensing processes to remove pointless burden on candidates, improve effectivity and cut back wait-times [sic].”
I like this purpose too. Even in the very best of occasions, OLCC marijuana licensing has been a three- to four-month course of. In the worst of times, it slowed down fully resulting from a mixture of utility quantity, inadequate workers, and extreme utility necessities. In the present day, we’re someplace within the center, with functions submitted on or before June 3 being assigned to investigators (a typical license issuance would possibly happen 6-8 weeks after such project).
Associated to this “optimization” purpose, OLCC started a phased rollout of its new Hashish and Alcohol Administration Program (CAMP) earlier this spring. All of us type of hated it– the system was cumbersome and irritating in numerous methods. Issues appear to be bettering considerably, although, and OLCC has been responsive in working by means of snags.
In all, we’re completely happy to see a give attention to tempo and refinement. Patrons and sellers of Oregon hashish licenses would welcome “elevated effectivity and diminished wait occasions” now that OLCC is not taking new marijuana license functions in nearly all classes. Closing on these transactions is pegged on to OLCC license issuance, which extends almost all gross sales timelines (and generally tanks them).
Guidelines evaluate
One other purpose that jumped out for me was OLCC’s initiative to “conduct a multi-year evaluate and revision of our guidelines construction and language [with industry parties, including licensees].”
Chances are you’ll respect that the majority or all OLCC hashish guidelines did come by means of a evaluate and vetting course of. Many collaborators weigh in previous to rulemaking, on the legislative degree, and others by means of guidelines advisory committees (RACs) hosted by OLCC. Issues change, although, and for my part lots of the OLCC marijuana guidelines—the place the Fee isn’t pinned down by statute—might use a re-assessment. In essentially the most normal sense, I’d prefer to see hashish in Oregon regulated extra like alcohol, regardless of the chain-of-custody distinction. It can be done.
OLCC on the whole
From this observer’s perspective—knowledgeable partially by speaking with Fee workers—issues have settled down within OLCC. Workers will acknowledge that final yr’s La Mota and liquor-hoarding scandals solid a pall over the Fee, however the shadow has handed (even with La Mota hanging onto its licenses). The Fee’s marijuana aspect, by all reviews, could be very collaborative, higher systematized, and again to “enterprise as regular”– particularly now that licenses are capped.
Talking of license caps, final month a RAC convened on the subject. I’ve explained that, resulting from Home Invoice 4121, we in all probability gained’t see a rise in producer or retailer licenses in most of our lifetimes. That’s nonetheless the case. Wholesale licensing, however, might open up as quickly as subsequent yr, and processing maybe in 2026 or 2027. The best way the statutory language is written, OLCC would open the portal when licenses dip under sure counts. Curiously, OLCC should provide you with utility denial standards for related, earlier candidates.
Elsewhere, OLCC remains to be energetic within the Hashish Regulators Affiliation (Cann-Ra), a corporation for hashish regulators throughout america. Traditionally, Oregon has bought a statewide membership, which implies that OLCC and different Oregon businesses regulating hashish – together with OHA, DOR and ODWR – are additionally on the desk. Hopefully OLCC finds a solution to export a few of its finest concepts (e.g. early removal of resident-ownership requirements; interstate compact promotion), whereas leaving off a few of the traditionally irritating strictures (e.g. individual plant tagging; opaque and inconsistent enforcement rules and policies).
Poll Measure 119 – hashish labor peace agreements
This one is on the November 5 poll as an initiated state statute, and I’m shocked folks aren’t speaking about it extra.
If Measure 119 passes, each hashish retailer and processor will likely be required to submit a signed labor peace settlement to OLCC. Measure 119 would not apply to producers, wholesalers, or labs. (Word: I’m a union man, however I additionally consider the requirement for producers, specifically, can be a shit present. It’s neither right here nor there.)
Obligatory peace agreements aren’t something new in hashish, though it might be one thing completely different right here in Oregon. California, for instance, requires labor peace agreements for a lot of of its hashish licensees, and has for a few years. We had shoppers wrestle with the idea initially, and we noticed some fumbled roll-outs, however folks ultimately adjusted.
Measure 119 additional gives that retailers and processors can be required to stay impartial, underneath the peace agreements, when labor organizations talk with staff about collective bargaining rights “with any licensure or renewal utility.” That half will not be precisely clear to me; let’s see the way it goes.
The United Meals and Business Employees Native 555 spent a good deal of money to get Measure 119 on the poll, rounding up some 163,000 signatures when solely 117,173 have been required. This follows on a stymied effort to get House Bill 3183 handed final yr, which might have achieved the identical factor legislatively.
I’m not conscious of any polling on Measure 119, however my guess is that it’ll move– Oregon is a “union” state, constantly outpacing the U.S. at giant in per capita union membership. So that is one to look at.
Rumblings on legislative priorities
The 2025 Oregon legislative session will likely be an extended session, stretching from January into the summer season. The deadline for pre-session invoice submitting isn’t till December 13, so we’re a methods out on seeing any concrete proposals of report. That stated, CIAO retains its legislative priorities listing up to date here, and it has been in energetic discussions with membership as to what people want to see.
Right here on the agency, we’ve been speaking with a number of personal events on particular curiosity payments, and you’ll anticipate to see sure hashish payments that expired in 2024’s short session to be revived. We’ll examine in on all of this in January, as we at all times do right here on the weblog.
Within the meantime, right here’s to a good looking September, with no one’s farm smoked out by the fires. See you quickly.
