Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
The Oregon Health Authority may announce changes today to the regulations on pesticide testing to address widespread discontent within the legal marijuana business community.
Thursday, spokesman Jonathan Modie said he did not know specifically what the changes would address.
"These are growing pains we are going through now," he said. "Lots of producers want to get their product to market; we understand that. That doesn't remove our concern for public health."
The Oregon Cannabis Business Council, a group of 51 marijuana-related businesses, on Wednesday released a survey whose results the group said shows the consequences that result from changes in marijuana testing regulations: empty shelves, employee layoffs and business closings. The online survey, conducted by Whitney Economics, a Portland firm headed by economist Beau Whitney, last month solicited 683 marijuana businesses in Oregon, of which 72 responded.
Eighty percent of those 72 said they experienced "supply constraints." Eleven stated they planned to lay off between five and 25 employees. Sixteen respondents reported they planned to go out of business. Marijuana testing as it exists could cost the state up to $10 million in lost sales tax revenue this quarter, wrote Whitney in a two-page report accompanying the survey.
Whitney said he works as a marijuana business consultant and as a compliance officer for Golden Leaf Holdings, a Canada-based medical marijuana firm with a Portland-area office. Thursday he said he felt confident in the survey results but said they do not represent a truly random sample.
"The intent of the survey was to cast a wide net," he said. "It wasn't intended to make a point, but to see what the impact (of the state testing regulations) was and share that data with the general public, but more importantly with the policymakers."
Marijuana business owners in Bend contacted Thursday said they experience long delays in obtaining marijuana products and higher costs associated with product testing. A three-week wait for test results is not uncommon, said a marketing manager at a Bend laboratory.
"There is high demand" for testing services, said Luke Oswald at Juniper Analytics, on NE Second Street. "The industry is so bottlenecked."
Juniper Analytics is not certified to test for pesticides, meaning it subcontracts with an approved lab for those tests. Only four labs are certified for pesticide testing, none in Bend, out of 19 marijuana testing labs in the state, according to the health authority list online.
One dispensary owner, Jeremy Kwit, of Bloom Well, in Bend, said delays in obtaining marijuana products is common, but he knows no shortages at his businesses. If he had more safes, he said, he'd fill them all.
Cameron Yee, founder of Lunchbox Alchemy, a marijuana processor in Bend, said his business is suffering partly because of stringent testing regulations for pesticides and a shortage of state-certified testing labs. He said he laid off about 25 employees over the past two months but rehired most of them.
"It is very, very dire. They're overregulating it," he said. "Would you call the fire department and have them spray down your house because you think it might start on fire?"
Don Morse, executive director of the Oregon Cannabis Business Council, said the marijuana growers and processors respect concerns for public health, but expect to be treated on the same plane with other crops, such as tobacco.
Health authority officials have said little is known of how pesticide compounds change when processed along with marijuana or smoked. Nor is much known about how those compounds affect the human body, they said.
"When the rules went into effect Oct. 1, we had heard from labs that they can handle the volume," Modie said Thursday. "We believe they still can, and we're confident they can."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: State May Alter Marijuana Testing Rules
Author: Joseph Ditzler
Contact: 541-382-1811
Photo Credit: Mindy Schauer
Website: The Bulletin
Thursday, spokesman Jonathan Modie said he did not know specifically what the changes would address.
"These are growing pains we are going through now," he said. "Lots of producers want to get their product to market; we understand that. That doesn't remove our concern for public health."
The Oregon Cannabis Business Council, a group of 51 marijuana-related businesses, on Wednesday released a survey whose results the group said shows the consequences that result from changes in marijuana testing regulations: empty shelves, employee layoffs and business closings. The online survey, conducted by Whitney Economics, a Portland firm headed by economist Beau Whitney, last month solicited 683 marijuana businesses in Oregon, of which 72 responded.
Eighty percent of those 72 said they experienced "supply constraints." Eleven stated they planned to lay off between five and 25 employees. Sixteen respondents reported they planned to go out of business. Marijuana testing as it exists could cost the state up to $10 million in lost sales tax revenue this quarter, wrote Whitney in a two-page report accompanying the survey.
Whitney said he works as a marijuana business consultant and as a compliance officer for Golden Leaf Holdings, a Canada-based medical marijuana firm with a Portland-area office. Thursday he said he felt confident in the survey results but said they do not represent a truly random sample.
"The intent of the survey was to cast a wide net," he said. "It wasn't intended to make a point, but to see what the impact (of the state testing regulations) was and share that data with the general public, but more importantly with the policymakers."
Marijuana business owners in Bend contacted Thursday said they experience long delays in obtaining marijuana products and higher costs associated with product testing. A three-week wait for test results is not uncommon, said a marketing manager at a Bend laboratory.
"There is high demand" for testing services, said Luke Oswald at Juniper Analytics, on NE Second Street. "The industry is so bottlenecked."
Juniper Analytics is not certified to test for pesticides, meaning it subcontracts with an approved lab for those tests. Only four labs are certified for pesticide testing, none in Bend, out of 19 marijuana testing labs in the state, according to the health authority list online.
One dispensary owner, Jeremy Kwit, of Bloom Well, in Bend, said delays in obtaining marijuana products is common, but he knows no shortages at his businesses. If he had more safes, he said, he'd fill them all.
Cameron Yee, founder of Lunchbox Alchemy, a marijuana processor in Bend, said his business is suffering partly because of stringent testing regulations for pesticides and a shortage of state-certified testing labs. He said he laid off about 25 employees over the past two months but rehired most of them.
"It is very, very dire. They're overregulating it," he said. "Would you call the fire department and have them spray down your house because you think it might start on fire?"
Don Morse, executive director of the Oregon Cannabis Business Council, said the marijuana growers and processors respect concerns for public health, but expect to be treated on the same plane with other crops, such as tobacco.
Health authority officials have said little is known of how pesticide compounds change when processed along with marijuana or smoked. Nor is much known about how those compounds affect the human body, they said.
"When the rules went into effect Oct. 1, we had heard from labs that they can handle the volume," Modie said Thursday. "We believe they still can, and we're confident they can."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: State May Alter Marijuana Testing Rules
Author: Joseph Ditzler
Contact: 541-382-1811
Photo Credit: Mindy Schauer
Website: The Bulletin
