On Friday, in response to a growing outcry from Oregon’s marijuana producers, processers, and retailers, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) released new temporary rules for marijuana product testing in the Oregon industry, acknowledging in a press release that “testing costs are driving up consumer prices, creating product shortages, and causing some processors to temporarily cease operations and furlough employees.”
… it appears that OHA moved ahead and filed for a temporary amendment and suspension of certain cannabis testing regulations with Oregon’s Secretary of State, as permitted by state law.
Trista Okel, who publicly vented in November about the unsustainable cost of testing for her small-batch cannabis topicals under state requirements, told the Oregonian that the temporary rules will actually increase the amount of testing she’ll need to do, from 12 to 32 samples per batch. She’s now exploring “how to ride this out” by looking into licensing agreements in states with legal marijuana and “reasonable regulations”. Don Morse, a Portland dispensary owner andoriginal supporter of the new rules, because he thought they’d help legitimize the industry, who later realized his error and decried the supply shortages and cost increases the regulations caused, says that the temporary amendments are “smoke and mirrors,” adding “We were hoping for more to alleviate the backlog of testing and we don’t see that this really does that.”
Source: Update: Oregon Regulators Intervene in Malfunctioning Marijuana Market
