Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Friday 3 august 2018
Reports: Oregon has pot oversupply, Colorado hits the mark

By GILLIAN FLACCUS and pot industries. They also un- tion along its border with
KATHLEEN FOODY derscore some key differ- California, where there
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Two ences in how broad legal- are near-perfect outdoor
of the first states to broadly ization was handled that growing conditions. That
legalize marijuana took have helped shape differ- tradition of illicit marijuana
different approaches to ently evolving markets in has created a nightmare
regulation that left Oregon each state. for law enforcement agen-
with a vast oversupply and Colorado sales of broadly cies in rural, heavily forested
Colorado with a well-bal- legalized marijuana began counties already stretched
anced market. But in both in 2014, roughly two years thin by budget cuts.
states prices for bud have before Oregon allowed The Oregon report, for ex-
plummeted. marijuana to be sold at ample, noted nearly 15,000
A new Oregon report by non-medical retail stores. pounds (6,800 kilograms) of
law enforcement found In this Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, file photograph, Tim Cullen, And from the beginning, marijuana with a street val-
nearly 70 percent of the le- chief executive officer of the Colorado Harvest Company, holds Colorado had stricter regu- ue of $48 million has been
gal recreational marijuana up a marijuana bud ready for sale in Denver. lations for its growers than seized heading to 37 other
grown goes unsold, while Associated Press Oregon did. states. That doesn't include
an unrelated state-com- Colorado gave existing illegal pot snagged at Port-
missioned Colorado study the University of Colorado tween marijuana and se- medical marijuana growers land International Airport.
found most growers there Boulder's business school rious, interstate criminal the right of first refusal for li- "I know a lot of the legal in-
are planting less than half and a Denver consulting activity. Overproduction censes, cutting down right dustry in Oregon has been
of their legal allotment — firm had access to state is rampant, and the illegal away on a potential source asking for stepped-up en-
and still meeting demand. tracking data to produce transport of product out- of black market produc- forcement to combat ille-
The Oregon study released the first-of-its-kind analysis. of-state — a violation of tion. The state also requires gal operations, but there
by the Oregon-Idaho High The law enforcement study both state and federal law growers to show they have doesn't appear in those
Intensity Drug Trafficking noted Oregon still has a se- — continues unchecked," sold 85 percent of their out- conversations a clear own-
Area — a coalition of local, rious problem with out-of- said Billy Williams, U.S. Attor- put before allowing them er of the law enforcement,"
state and federal agencies state trafficking and black ney for Oregon. "It's time for to expand their growing Whitney said.
— includes the medical market grows — and the the state to wake up, slow operation, said Beau Whit- Although Colorado has
and general-use markets top federal law enforce- down and address these ney, senior economist at been more successful in
and the illegal market, de- ment officer in Oregon de- issues in a responsible and national cannabis analytics finding a balance between
spite gaps in data on illicit manded more coopera- thoughtful manner." firm New Frontier Data. supply and demand, retail
marijuana grows. tion from state and local of- The tandem reports never- "That was the right ap- prices for bud, or marijuana
The Colorado study, re- ficials Thursday in a strident theless offer different case proach, and we've made flower, have plummeted in
leased Thursday, focuses statement. studies for California and that recommendation to both states about 50 per-
on the legal, general-use "What is often lost in this other pot-friendly states as other state regulators to cent since 2015.
market, and researchers at discussion is the link be- they ramp up their legal do that because if you That statistic could be de-
exclude the medical folks ceiving, however, because
from entering the market, most growers are now cul-
then there could be pro- tivating their crop for con-
pensity for diversion" to the version into the increasingly
black market, he said. popular oil extracts that
"Colorado has done a wind up in everything from
good job in sizing the mar- soaps to vape pens to ed-
ket. In Oregon, it's going to ible gummies to salves. It
take a while for that bal- takes 10 times more dried
ance to be established." flower to make an oil ex-
Oregon didn't give existing tract and much of the
medical marijuana growers dried flower is going to that
priority over new applicants market, Whitney said.
as Colorado did, and it also "What the report demon-
didn't cap licenses. That strates to us is that our li-
created a perfect storm of censed operators are op-
endless licenses for all com- erating responsibly," said
ers paired with less incen- Mike Hartman, executive
tive for medical growers to director of the Department
enter the new industry. of Revenue, which over-
In June, the Oregon Liquor sees marijuana regulation.
Control Commission, which "They're not overproduc-
oversees general-use mari- ing the amount of product
juana, did put a pause on they're putting in the mar-
issuing new grow licenses to ketplace. They are oper-
work through a monthslong ating to maximize product
backlog of applicants. The but also ... emphasizing
Legislature will likely con- public health and safety."
sider steps to get a handle At Green Dot Labs in Boul-
on oversupply in the 2019 der, CEO Alana Malone
session. estimated the company
The Pacific Northwest state grows about 1,600 of its al-
also had to contend with lotted 1,800 plants that are
a long-entrenched culture used to produce cannabis
of illegal marijuana cultiva- oil products.q