In response to the rapid growth of the legal cannabis market, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) has approved several changes regarding recreational marijuana regulations in a meeting on December 28, 2021. “The changes in the recreational marijuana rules package reflect the cannabis industry’s rapid evolution and the blurring of distinctions between hemp and marijuana product,” the OLCC said in a news release, which continues below.
The legal cannabis industry worked with the OLCC during the last 18 months to develop the new rules:
• Help streamline regulatory oversight of day-to-day business activities
• Scale back violations
• Expand consumer choices
Establish safeguards to prevent children from accessing hemp products containing THC.
The new rules take effect Jan. 1, 2022, but the implementation of some of the regulations will extend into 2023. OLCC Executive Director Steve Marks said, “These rules try to balance a number of different concerns – consumer health and safety, interests of small and large operators in our industry, and public safety concerns around loopholes in the federal Farm Bill of 2018 and the illicit farm production taking place in Oregon.”
SB 408 provided the OLCC with an outline for re-structuring penalties for rule violations made by licensees. Some of the violation categories dated back to 2016, when Oregon first issued recreational marijuana licenses, and when federal intervention was a greater concern.
