April May Oregon News Nuggets

Bend Cops Call Out Bomb Squad To Dismantle BHO Lab

By OCC Staff

The enforcement on extract labs is fully underway in Bend. A traffic stop led to an ongoing investigation, which ended in the raid on two locations April 1, 2016, one containing a extraction lab with a fully contained extraction system and vacuum ovens and more. No explosions, no one injured.

From www.KTVZ.com:

“A January traffic stop of a distracted Bend driver turned up 63 pounds of processed marijuana, sparking an investigation that led to two raids this week. One was at a home north of Bend that housed a marijuana grow and a lab to make a potent form of hashish oil, called “butane honey oil,” authorities said Friday.”

Of course the drug enforcement unit, called Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team (or CODE) led the enforcement efforts, along with Oregon State Police (OSP). They have years of experience in raiding marijuana operations, but they eventually called the OSP Explosives Unit (or the “bomb squad”) to render one of the “vessels” safe.

Two men were contacted at one of the sites, both from Bend, and were cited to appear in court on marijuana manufacture, delivery and possession charges, Lt. Bill Fugate said.

© 2016 Oregon Cannabis Connection. All Rights Reserved.

Right To Grow Files Appeal Against Jackson County

By OCC Staff

With the passage of House Bill 4014, Senate Bill 1511 and Senate Bill 1598, significant changes were made to the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act. These rules were intended to patch up part of the problems that existed at the end of the last legislative session, but Jackson County took the wording of one provision in SB 1598 to try to prevent most cannabis growing in Jackson County.

Sandy Diesel of Right To Grow USA (RTG USA) told OCC, “With the passage of Senate Bill 1598, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners has interpreted the bill in a manner that has essentially banned all cannabis grown on rural residential property.”

“Kelly Madding and the JC BOC believe the intent of SB 1598 is to deem cannabis as a “farm use” crop,” explained Diesel. “Jackson County’s stance is that “farm use” crops are not permitted to be grown on Rural Residential (Zoned RR) properties, in essence, shutting down nearly 6,000 growers.”

RTG USA has retained legal counsel and on April 6, 2016, and filed an appeal against Jackson County. They said they intend to file a lawsuit taking this to Circuit Court.

“To say that we at Right To Grow, USA are disappointed by this decision is a gross understatement,” explained Diesel. “We believe Jackson County needs to be held accountable for creating a severe public health crisis by taking away patients’ safe access to medicine.”

Should you wish to support their lawsuit, please contact RTG at www.righttogrowusa.com.  Their mission is: to effect positive change and facilitate the drafting of lawful and responsible legislation for medical cannabis that preserves and protects the rights of patients, physicians & providers.

© 2016 Oregon Cannabis Connection. All Rights Reserved.

Oregon Marijuana Market Hits $265 Million In 2015

From The Weed Blog

ArcView Market Research, the leading publisher of cannabis market research and information in partnership with New Frontier, the cannabis Big Data and analytics authority, has released the 4th edition of the State of Legal Marijuana Markets, which shows that the legal cannabis industry is one of the fastest growing industries in America, with a compound annual growth rate of 31%. The official 2015 ArcView market estimate is $5.7 billion, up from $4.6 billion in 2014. Oregon adult use sales began in October of 2015, and combined with medical sales, the legal market brought in $264.8 million. By the end of 2016, the total legal market is projected to be $481.7 million.

“The state’s decision to allow limited adult use sales through existing dispensaries in advance of recreational sales, which are scheduled to begin in the fall of 2016 have helped boost revenues for the 85% of dispensaries that opted into the program and provided an early indication of the demand expected when the full adult use market activates.” said Troy Dayton, CEO of The ArcView Group.

“Oregon is on the frontier of the cannabis legalization movement. It was the first to decriminalize small amounts of cannabis, one of the first to legalize medical marijuana, and it was third to allow adult use sales. It will be quite interesting to see how they do in 2016, their first full year of recreational sales,” said Giadha DeCarcer, Founder and CEO of New Frontier.

A number of factors make Oregon’s adult use market attractive to business:

• Low license application fees
• No restrictions on the number of producer, processor or retailer licenses
• The lowest retail cannabis tax rates in the country
• The 6th highest rate of adult cannabis use in the country
• 16 years of medical cannabis experience in the state before adult use was legalized

If you would like more information on the state of Oregon’s market or any of the other states where marijuana is legal, you can download the State of Legal Marijuana Markets Report at www.ArcViewMarketResearch.com and https://frontierfinancials.com/SOLMM where it can be ordered for $497.

© 2016 The Weed Blog. Reprinted By Permission. All rights reserved.

Gov. Kate Brown Lifts Marijuana Business Residency Requirements

By Keith Mansur, OCC Editor

Oregon’s Governor signed a law lifting the residency requirement from licensing marijuana businesses, a move applauded by attorneys, legislators, big money and their consultants across the state. The people standing to gain the most from the move are surely cheering, while the small Mom and Pop operators are quickly shut out of the system and damning the move.

From www.marijuana.com:

“Oregon has officially eased the barriers for entry for businesses looking to get involved in the world of legal weed. Prior to yesterday, Oregon required all applicant-holders to have lived in the state of Oregon for at least two years. After a long journey, Gov. Kate Brown signed to officially remove the two-year residency requirement for applicants. Now, anyone can apply for an Oregon recreational marijuana license. This opens many doors for out-of-state producers, processors and retailers who previously had overlooked Oregon. The Beaver state is now viewed as a prosperous opportunity to interested investors.” —Allie Becket, March 7, 2016.

Now the Wild West is opened up fully in Oregon, and investors from New York, California, Texas, and even Asia are now looking at Oregon for a quick buck. Maybe a small “micro” environment we had hoped to culture here can still flourish, but with few playgrounds available, and Oregon opening it up to everyone, we will surely be swamped. We can hope for the best. HOLD ON TIGHT!

© 2016 Oregon Cannabis Connection. All Rights Reserved.