On Friday, Oregon Governor Kate Brown issued Executive Order No. 19-09 (the “Order”), which directs the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to “take immediate action to address the vaping public health crisis.” In one sense, the Order is narrower than many people feared and expected: specifically, it bans only
The 2019 Oregon legislative session resulted in the adoption of several new laws concerning cannabis. You can read our definitive list here, our preview of the session here and a mid-session update here. One notable change was the passage of Senate Bill 218, which authorizes the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) to refuse to issue initial
A few weeks ago, we explained what Oregon’s “total THC” testing requirement is and why it matters from a contractual point of view. Today, we further explore this issue and discuss how it is affecting industry players’ ability to export and import hemp and hemp products to the Beaver State. Back in 2018, Oregon law
The 2019 Oregon legislative session formally concluded on June 30 and it was a doozy. With respect to cannabis, however, the session was significantly less eventful than any conference since 2014 (and that is mostly a good thing). If you’d like to track how we got here, we previewed the 2019 session in March and
In the past few months, many of our Oregon hemp clients have asked us to clarify the testing requirements imposed by the Oregon Department of Agriculture (“ODA”). Unlike other jurisdictions that only test for tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC” or “delta-9 THC”) concentration, the ODA rules provide that any industrial hemp product sold to consumers must contain no
We frequently write on hemp litigation and the ways farmers and purchasers can mitigate the risks inherent in this new industry. Along with others, we have stressed the importance of strategic and careful thinking before entering into a hemp-related contract. Our cannabis lawyers frequently write and speak on these and related topics. A couple of
While Oregon legalized hemp production in 2015, the Beaver State has seen a huge influx of hemp grower and handler registrations since the enactment of the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp under federal law. To keep up with the growing interest in the crop and its derivatives, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (“ODA”) has
We recently wrote about hemp production contracts, noting that scope and scale of commercial hemp production and the related contracts and lawsuits are likely to dwarf the dollar values we typically see in recreational marijuana. That post discussed a $57 million lawsuit arising from a hemp production contract and lists some issues for growers and
In the past year or so, we have seen an influx of cannabis delivery businesses enter the Oregon market– specifically in Portland. Those businesses are getting a lot of press, and we have received multiple inquiries from outfits looking to enter this space. Given this growing interest, we thought we would go over some of
Why is the OLCC throwing the book at me? This is a question we hear a lot these days from our Oregon cannabis clients in reference to the OLCC’s recent more aggressive approach to enforcement. As we’ve explained, the OLCC has tightened the reins on marijuana applications and rule violations. This has made the prospects
