Last week the Oregon Legislature passed the last of seven bills to implement legal cannabis and hemp in an orderly, responsible way.
“The Legislature’s teamwork on cannabis and industrial hemp this session will help keep our communities safe, support creation of a strong new business sector, and protect patients’ access to medicine,” says Rep. Ann Lininger (D-Lake Oswego), co-chair of the joint committee on marijuana legalization.
Committee members expressed strong interest in the economic development impact of legalization in Oregon, which ArcView Market Research predicts will reach $985.2 million by 2020.
“The legal cannabis and hemp sectors can be a good source of jobs in rural and urban Oregon,” says Rep. Carl Wilson (R-Grants Pass), Vice Chair of the committee. “The framework we created will help this new sector thrive. I’m tremendously excited by the possibilities.”
Here are highlights from the cannabis bill package that the Legislature sent to the Governor for her signature:
• Preventing Drug Use Among Young People: HB 4014 creates a Youth Cannabis-use Prevention Program that the Legislature has funded through a $3.9 million appropriation.
“As a former police officer of 29 years, protecting our youth has always been an issue close to my heart. I’m thankful the Joint Committee on Marijuana Legalization has taken the necessary steps to protect our youth from illegal cannabis activity,” says Rep. Andy Olson (R-Albany).
• Right-Sizing Penalties for and Allowing Expungement of Minor Offenses: HB 4014 and SB 1598 continue legislative work to right-size penalties for people who have committed cannabis-related offenses and expand expungement opportunities, reflecting voters’ decision to end cannabis prohibition.
• Helping Legal Businesses Create Jobs and Thrive:
o Creating a micro-canopy license program to help small farmers participate in the regulated market: HB 4014 and SB 1598;
o Eliminating the need for costly, redundant regulation by allowing co-location of adult-use and medical cannabis businesses: SB 1511;
o Helping legal businesses access the capital they need to launch and grow by removing penalties in Oregon law that discourage banks from serving legal cannabis businesses, and by eliminating a requirement that investors have lived in Oregon for two years: HB 4094 and 4014; and
o Supporting launch of the industrial hemp sector and preventing cross-contamination between hemp and cannabis crops: HB 4060.
• Protecting Patients’ Access to Medicine by
o Enabling patients to buy cannabis products tax-free: SB 1601;
o Allowing veterans with a qualifying condition to obtain medical cards at a reduced price: HB 4014; and
o Authorizing creation of a nonprofit license that would enable provision of medicine to low-income OMMP patients at no charge: SB 1598.
“It’s crucial to protect patients’ access to the medicine they need. I think the nonprofit license and other steps we took will help to do that,” says Rep. Peter Buckley (D-Ashland).
The Legislature’s work on legal cannabis and hemp has been a point of strong bipartisan teamwork, with each of the Joint Committee’s bills receiving unanimous committee support.
“Over the last fourteen months, this Joint Committee has become a good team,” says Committee Co-Chair Sen. Ginny Burdick (D-Portland). “The respect and mutual trust we have built will help us solve other tough problems together going forward.”
Strong community interest in legalization spurred robust community input in the legislative process.
“We sought out input from a wide range of rural and urban patients, farmers, businesses, and advocates,” said Rep. Ken Helm (D-Beaverton). “I think that shows in the strong set of bills the Committee produced.”
