Cannabis Law
Top 5 Oregon Cannabis Stories of 2022
Oregon’s cannabis market experienced extreme difficulties and regulatory upheaval in 2022. Many of the highlights below arise from the aftermath of HB 3000 (2021), the reverberations of which will likely continue as the legislature prepares for a long session in...
100% of Oregon Asset Forfeitures were Drug Related in 2021
Asset forfeiture is the legal mechanism whereby law enforcement can seize and acquire property used either in the commission of unlawful activity (an instrumentality) or constitutes the profits of illegal activity (proceeds). Readers of this blog are aware of the...
New Oregon-Based Study Confirms THC Potency is Not Indicative of Product Quality or Consumer Experience’
A new study has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Psychoactives that concludes, based on anonymized data collected from a Portland-based cannabis competition, Cultivation Classic, that there is no correlation between THC potency and a positive consumer experience. The study,...
OLCC’s Proposed Potency Auditing Rules Send Consumers the Wrong Message, Ignore Science
On September 28, 2022, the Oregon Liquor & Cannabis Commission (OLCC) published its proposed auditing rules package to implement statutes from the 2022 legislative session and to make other technical updates. One rule amendment to the existing random testing rule...
Republican Legislator Disputes Intent of HB 3000 and is Confused by Oregon’s Ban on Artificially Derived Cannabinoids
Since passage of HB 3000 (2021) our firm has closely followed the evolution of OLCC rulemaking as it relates to regulations of artificially derived cannabinoids. The most significant regulation is OAR 845-025-1310 that essentially banned all artificially derived cannabinoids beginning...
Disturbing Trend: Hemp Landlords Increasingly Subjected to Criminal Prosecution
In my last post regarding the rise of civil asset forfeiture in Oregon’s ongoing war on cannabis, I noted some commonalities in law enforcement’s approach to civil forfeiture of land allegedly used to grow illegal cannabis, namely that the landowner...
Oregon Law Enforcement’s Increasing Use of Asset Forfeiture to Battle Illegal Grows
Following up on my Reefer Madness 2.0 post from last summer, various law enforcement agencies around the state have dusted off a controversial legal procedure in an attempt to forfeit land used to grow cannabis without a license. This controversial...
OPINION: OLCC Has Only Itself to Blame for the Rise of Illicit Marijuana Grows in Southern Oregon
As noted in my previous posts this summer, law enforcement in Southern Oregon has been bitten by the Reefer Madness bug, and the heated rhetoric has been fueled in no small part by Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) officials....
Jackson County Code Enforcement Against Greenhouses Runs Afoul of State Law
In my Reefer Madness 2.0 post, I referenced that one aspect of the war on cannabis in Southern Oregon are citations for exorbitant fines levied against landowners alleging that the construction of hoophouses and greenhouses require building permits. Jackson County...
Reefer Madness 2.0: The War on Cannabis Rages in Southern Oregon
Over the past three months, law enforcement raids of “illegal marijuana grows” in Southern Oregon have spiked. While I’m willing to give law enforcement the benefit of the doubt that the number illegal marijuana grows has increased over the past...