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A6 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 1 September 2018

Oregon pot growers now must notify officials about harvests

By GILLIAN FLACCUS State regulators originally
Associated Press wanted 72 hours' notice,
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Be- but cultivators pushed
fore Matthew Miller harvests back.
marijuana this fall from his "It's like an audit. They're
fields in southern Oregon, going to go out and make
he'll have to notify the state sure that plant counts and
for the first time ever — a package count match
process that could bring in- what's in the system," Pet-
spectors to make sure none tinger said.
of his pot is being illegally The state general use pro-
diverted. gram has 23 inspectors —
The new harvest notifica- not enough to show up at
tion policy, which takes ef- each harvest site — but the
fect Saturday, is the first of possibility that an inspec-
its kind among states that tor could come knocking
have legalized marijuana should provide an incen-
and is intended to en- tive to follow the rules, he
sure legally grown Oregon said. The agency will also
weed isn't being transport- reconcile the anticipated
ed out of state. harvest entered into the
It's part of a raft of new system with what actually
measures to appease fed- comes in, he said.
eral officials who have In this Oct. 13, 2015, file photo, Lauren Silberman, 29, hangs marijuana after harvesting at Michael Sixty-five percent of Ore-
publicly railed against what Monarch's southern Oregon marijuana grow, in Ashland, Ore. gon's outdoor growing sites
they call Oregon's "relaxed" Associated Press for recreational use mari-
regulatory environment juana — 258 farms — are
and inadequate oversight that have resulted in an industry already struggling diverting supply to the concentrated in two rural
of an ambitious legal pot oversupply of legal weed, to stay afloat. black market. Sheriffs in the counties, making it easier
industry. with growers desperate to "They don't do this to any southern Oregon counties to place resources before
Oregon has an excellent unload crops now worth other agricultural crop in most impacted by outdoor harvest time in late Sep-
pot-growing climate, and half of what they were. the world," said Miller, of growing sites have been tember or early October,
its rules allow applicants to In this environment, the Millerville Farms. "All it does vocal about a lack of re- Pettinger said.
have multiple licenses, per- harvest notification rule has is it makes our margin go sources to sleuth out illegal "A lot of growers are far-
mit out-of-state investment, riled many cannabis culti- less and less — and we're marijuana farms. flung, but we have a con-
and don't cap grower li- vators who say it amounts already doing just about State regulators last month centration of inspectors in
censes — generous policies to more bureaucracy in an everything at cost." targeted one possible prob- southern Oregon, and it's
Oregon's adult-use market lem when they reduced the southern Oregon out-
has struggled for months the amount of marijuana door growing activity that
with too much marijuana. flower a medical marijuana has anecdotally and his-
As of June, there were patient can buy per day at torically been sort of a cru-
nearly 1 million pounds a retail store from 24 ounc- cible of where a lot of di-
(450,000 kilograms) of "us- es (680 grams) to 1 ounce version and illegal activity
able flower" in the system, (28 grams) for a six-month takes place," he said.
and an additional 350,000 trial period. The change Growers say the rule un-
pounds (159,000 kilograms) was prompted when the li- fairly targets licensed cul-
of marijuana extracts, ed- quor commission noticed a tivators to get federal au-
ibles and tinctures. Usable handful of stores were sell- thorities off Oregon's back.
flower refers to the dried ing flower in bulk over and The rule doesn't apply to
marijuana flower — or bud over again. indoor growers — who can
— that is most commonly And since July, the state harvest up to three times a
associated with marijuana has required 750 medical year instead of once — or
consumption. marijuana growers with those growing medical pot.
The Oregon Liquor Control more than 12 plants to reg- Outdoor growing facilities
Commission, which regu- ister with the commission. are also required under
lates the state's general Their plants will now be state law to maintain se-
use marijuana program, tracked from seed to sale curity cameras both inside
stopped accepting ap- just like non-medical culti- and outside and store the
plications for new growing vators' are. Sixteen inspec- film for 90 days.
licenses in June so it could tors are tasked with visiting "Which target are you go-
process a monthslong these larger medical grow- ing to go after if you're
backlog. State lawmakers ers to look for diversion, shooting? You're going
next year will likely con- with more to be hired, said to go after your easy tar-
sider a cap on the number Mark Pettinger, commission get," said Pete Gendron,
of permits issued for grows spokesman. president of the Oregon
and fund more field inspec- For the non-medical grow- SunGrowers Guild, which
tors. ers, the harvest rule will re- advocates for outdoor pot
Amid the glut, U.S. Attorney quire them to notify the farms. "I don't think there's
Billy J. Williams has pres- state by 9 a.m. on a day a single instance where it's
sured the state to tighten they plan to harvest by been demonstrated that
the rules and crack down entering their plans into a somebody is attempting to
on growers who may be cannabis tracking system. divert product."q