Earlier this week, I canvassed the key cannabis bills enrolled at the outset of the Oregon legislative session. I mentioned that HB 4016 was sucking up all of the oxygen due to its Oregon cannabis license moratoria, including the retroactive moratorium on new producer applications effective January 1, 2022. That retroactivity concept came out of
The litigation fallout from the hemp rush continues to wind its way through state and federal courts. Just a few years ago everyone and their brother was hot on hemp. Investment capital flooded into Oregon and other states and the industry was awash in new Hemp/CBD farming, processing, manufacturing, and retail businesses. The sheen has
The 2022 Oregon legislative session kicks off today. It’s a short session this year, with fewer cannabis bills than usual crowding the docket. In 2021, for example, we had 28 enrolled bills to start; eventually, 10 became law. This year we start with only five enrolled bills. Those five submissions overlap in some cases, but
The coming New Year heralded new administrative regulations for marijuana in the State of Oregon. These changes came through the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) rulemaking process. That process, in turn, stems from cannabis laws passed by the Oregon legislature earlier this year. Common Ownership Issues Common Ownership Definition Oregon allows verticality in its
Welcome to the sixth annual “State of the State” post on Oregon cannabis. This year was relatively staid compared to 2020, but key features included: a plateau in pricing and regulated sales; intensifying local competition; important new laws, administrative rules and policies; a hollowed out hemp market; and some interesting large company activity. Sales look
Big news from the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) this week as it announced it has resumed accepting and processing of new marijuana retailer, wholesaler, and processor applications submitted after June 15, 2018. This is welcome news as the OLCC had imposed an administrative “pause” on new applications to focus on existing licensees and
An Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) licensee must comply with all rules stemming from ORS 475B. There are a lot of them. These rules have been in a constant state of flux since 2015, and they are buttressed by other sets of permanent rules, temporary rules, proposed rules, bulletins and guidance. In my experience,
Last Friday and Saturday, members of the Oregon Bar gathered (online) for the third annual Cannabis Law Institute (CLI) put on by the Cannabis and Psychedelics Law Section of the Oregon State Bar. Topics included agricultural liens and receiverships, securities in the cannabis industry, federal and state hemp updates, Oregon’s Psilocybin Act, and the failures
Every state has some form of open records laws. Most of us have probably heard of the Freedom of Information Action (“FOIA”) which is the federal open records law. The purpose of the FOIA according to the U.S. Supreme Court is “to ensure an informed citizenry, vital to the functioning of a democratic society, needed
For the past few years, I have been engaged as an expert witness on a series of cannabis litigation matters here in Oregon. The way litigants use experts varies across jurisdictions due to local rules of evidence and other factors, but in any jurisdiction, compelling expert testimony can make or break a case. In this
