OHA Reporting Requirements Soon to Take Effect
By Anthony Taylor
Compassionate Oregon
Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reporting requirements for medical marijuana growers now in effect. (FAQ OHA page link)
The new rules for reporting are now in effect and require some growers to begin reporting growing, processing, inventory and transfers.
Of the 28,744 grow site addresses, just over 23,000 are sites with 12 plants or fewer. The focus of new reporting requirements will fall mainly on the remaining 5,000 or so grow site addresses.
If you are a medical marijuana grower under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program you received a recent letter from the OHA explaining who needed to create an online account and need to begin reporting by July 10, 2016.
- If you are growing only for yourself at your primary residence and do not intend to transfer anything to a dispensary, you do not have to register or report.
- You do not have to register or report if you are two individual patients growing for yourselves at the same primary residence, growing 12 plants or less and do not intend to transfer anything to a dispensary. (In this situation patients will not have to report but will be restricted to the legal possession amount of 24 oz each)
Each OMMP grower under the criteria listed below must create an online account with the OHA and begin reporting activities at the registered grow site including number of plants, transfers to patients, processors and/or dispensaries and inventory on hand.
- If you are growing only for yourself, but intend to transfer any excess to a processor or dispensary, you must report.
- If you are growing for any patient other than yourself, including your spouse, at your registered grow site address or for yourself at an address other than your primary residence, even if the grow site has twelve plants or fewer, you must report. *
- Grow site registration fees now must be paid by the grower, but are only due when the patient is applying or renewing or making a change in grower. Existing growers do not need to log in and submit payment.
Creating an online account must be done before you can file your first report. You can establish this account anytime this month and your first report for June activities is due no later than July 10, 2016.
You can find the 56-page tutorial for creating your account and submitting your reports at the link below. It walks you through the process and details of:
- Who needs to report
- When to report
- Where to report
- What to report and,
- How to report.
Growers now must also clearly identify which plants are for which patient at the registered grow site and keep all inventory separated and labeled with each patient number. Everything has to be kept separated and clearly identified. This is not complicated. A simple zip tie with the patient’s card# in permanent marker around the plant or on the bin will suffice.
Possession limits for immature plants (IMPs) are unlimited and new possession limits for designated growers allow for possession of everything a plant produces up to 12 lbs/plant for outdoor cultivation and 6 lbs/plant for indoor cultivation.
Patients growing for themselves, or those patients designated to grow for others are only allowed to possess 24 ounces for their own use but may now possess up to 12 or 6 lbs for every plant they grow for other patients. In other words, if you produce three pounds per plant for your patient and three pounds per plant for yourself, you are allowed to possess the entire 18 pounds for the patient but only 24 ounces of the 18 pounds you grew for yourself. The patient being grown for is also still restricted to 24 ounces. Legally the patient/designated grower in this instance would be able to possess 19½ pounds.
As with any new program there will be some bumps and glitches along the way and compliance and enforcement will initially be helpful rather than punitive, but keep in mind:
- Failure to comply may result in your registration card or certificate being revoked or suspended or civil penalties being imposed against you of up to $500 per day. (ORS 475B.400 to 475B.525, OAR 333-008-0720 to OAR 333-008-0740).
Finally, September 30 is the last day a patient, caregiver or grower may transfer anything other than usable marijuana (flowers, seeds, IMPs) to a dispensary. All items after October 1, 2016 must come from a licensed processor.
*Some patients who reside at the same address have chosen to designate each other as their grower—allowing them to each possess all they produce per plant within the limits. However, OHA has said that in this situation, each person listed as a designated grower will be required to pay the $200.00 grow site registration fee and begin reporting as a designated grower.
