Advisory Committee on Medical Marijuana, Meeting Highlights

Advisory Committee on Medical Marijuana

Meeting Highlights

December 2, 2015

• New OMMP staff were introduced, including Andre Ourso, who is now in charge of the OMMP.
• Andre reported on the backlog campaign, which was started to get caught up on medical marijuana card applications. Two groups of staff are working simultaneously on September and October paperwork, and they expect to reach their 30 turnaround time shortly.
• Verifications for Attending Physicians are no longer being required to be mailed in. Staff can verify by phone when needed. This is expected to cut turnaround time by week or so.
• The Medical Marijuana and Dispensary programs are being merged, new staff added and the website will consolidate the two programs on one portal.
• Michael Tynan and Shannon O’Fallon reviewed the rulemaking process for M91 and subsequent legislation. ACMM is represented by Cheryl K Smith. OHA is responsible for all rules on labeling, testing and serving size. Members received copies of the current draft of rules.
• An online application for the OMMP is being developed. This system will be more efficient, using a web-based portal, with paper backup, and include processors, growers and dispensaries. The statutory deadline for this is March 1. ACMM agreed to do beta testing.
• The report on LEDS (law enforcement inquiries) showed that the inquiries are down 66%.
• The budget document showed that OMMP no longer has a balance of $8-9 million. Five million of that was added to Public Health systems and support for systems improvement, in addition to the funding for other programs that has allocated over the past few years. Much like the lottery, the OMMP has become a cash cow for programs to milk, rather than allocating from the General Fund.
• Aligra Rainy, chair of the Outreach and Education Committee, reported that they have reached out to Americans for Safe Access (ASA) for assistance with budtender training.
• Gerry Lehrburger, MD, chair of the Horticulture and Research Committee, shared a draft letter to OHA. This was a followup to the research proposal he submitted last March. The ACMM agreed that he should send the letter, which is asking not for a financial commitment, but for endorsement of proposed research on medical cannabis.
• OHA staff agreed to provide numbers on three different scenarios for fee decreases developed by the ACMM, which are expected to be presented to the Marijuana RAC on December 7, 2015, as part of the proposed administrative rules.
• ACMM voted in favor of two proposals: 1. To oppose decoupling of patients from growers; and 2. To interpret the statute and recommend that residency under the OMMP not be limited to Oregon.

For more information about the ACMM, OMMP, OMMA, contact:

the OMMP: Oregon Health Authority * Oregon Medical Marijuana Program * 800 NE Oregon Street, #21 * Portland, OR 97232-2162

Mail: OMMP * PO Box 14450 * Portland, OR 97293-0450 * Phone: 971-673-1234

Hours of Operation: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM * Fax: 971-673-1278 * e-mail: OMMP.QA@state.or.us * WEBSITE: http://public.health.oregon.gov/DiseasesConditions/ChronicDisease/MedicalMarijuanaProgram/Pages/index.aspx