The Oregon Liquor Control Commission is gearing up to roll out new regulations for the state’s licensed cannabis growers. The regulations aim to give the state more control and oversight over cannabis harvests. But growers are already pushing back. They say the new rules could interfere with the delicate and often unpredictable timing of harvesting plants at their peak.
New Harvest Regulations Aim To Better Monitor Crop Surpluses
One of the major reasons states legalize adult-use cannabis is to push out illicit operators. The idea is to have a monitored, regulated market that makes it too risky and difficult for black market producers to survive. It’s either get above board or perish.
The reality on the ground, however, isn’t so clean cut. While on the decline, the illicit cannabis market still exists alongside the legal, regulated one. Especially as states make the transition to legal marijuana.
And that’s exactly Oregon’s concern. The state worries that legal cultivators are diverting their surplus crops to the black market.
In response to those concerns, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission is working on a new set of rules to give regulators a better sense of how much cannabis growers are producing—and where it’s all ending up.
However, the OLCC has released no information about how much surplus cannabis is potentially being diverted away from legal retailers into the hands of illicit manufacturers and sellers.
The logic is that the black market has to get their supply from somewhere. And Oregon wants to make sure it’s not from legal, licensed growers.
Growers Say New Regulations Threaten Crop Quality
Ask any cultivator, and they’ll tell you, timing is everything. Producing high-quality cannabis for medical and