There was a flurry of cannabis legislation in 2021. We had some successes, one big heartbreaking loss, and fought back some dangerous tax legislation. I could not be more proud of the way our members came together to advocate for our industry, and am so very thankful for your support that gave us the lobbying resources to protect our interests!
– Kim
HB3112 Cannabis Equity Act: Not Passed – Before we celebrate any legislative victories, we must acknowledge that the session ended without making this significant investment in economic justice, and no legislative pathways were created in our industry for Black, Indigenous and Latinx Oregonians through cannabis equity licenses and funding support. The Cannabis Equity PAC which formed to push the bill forward will still stay open, and the coalition who met to originally craft the bill will come back together to look at next steps. This fight is not over, and the OCA is committed to supporting this effort for as long as needed.
SB408 Cannabis Omnibus Bill: Passed – The OCA championed this common sense industry modernization bill, which includes several items that should save time, money, headache and improve regulator relations. Below is a short recap of the bill’s main points. The bill goes into effect on Jan 1, 2022, and there will be a lot of companion rulemaking that will come out of the OLCC (so don’t start doing these things just yet).
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Updated compliance practices for the OLCC, amending the grounds for revocation, suspension or restriction of license to major violations, moving enforcement to a more compliance-based approach working with business owners for improved public health & safety.
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Improved transparency around the violation and licensing process, requiring the OLCC to notify Licensees before delaying the processing, approval or denial of a license application.
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Allows producers under common ownership to transfer product between their licenses allowing them to make better use of shared resources.
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Provisions allowing producers to receive extract products made from their plant material back from a processor.
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Supporting plant diversity by allowing producers to receive cannabis seeds from any source within Oregon, up to 200 per month.
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Eliminating the turn-by-turn manifest.
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Doubled possession limits on all products except for seeds and immature plants and increasing the concentration limits in edibles to 100 mg. This will allow the OLCC to start rulemaking to double the purchase limits.
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Requirement for the OLCC to study and identify rule and statute changes that would reduce the use of plastics by the cannabis industry
HB2015 & SB864 Retail Sales Tax Increase: Not Passed – We rallied together early in the session to fight HB2015 which would have allowed cities to increase their cannabis sales tax from 3% to 10%, and we were successful. Then right before the session ended a duplicate bill popped up on the Senate side. That bill passed the Senate, but thanks to the incredible work of our lobbyist, Jonathan Manton, and our legislative champions fighting back, the bill did not make it through the House. The quick way this bill popped up and almost snuck through, is a testament to the need for strong associations like ours looking out for our member’s interests.
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