Those who cultivate marijuana for recreational purposes would need to pay between $3,750 and $5,750 annually in order to keep a state license according to draft rules issued on Friday. Marijuana wholesalers, processors, retailers, etc., on the other hand, would need to pay $4,750 per year for a state license. The representatives of the marijuana industry say these fees are excessive, but they were issued on Friday by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. The good part is that the revenue generated from these fees will be the source of funding for Oregon’s recreational marijuana industry.
These rules are designed to shape every single detail from the application and its requirements to the farmers and the installations that will be needed. These rules may seem controversial; take for instance the prohibition of medical marijuana dispensaries revealing locations with recreational dispensaries. According to officials, liquor commission officials have no say over medical marijuana so mixing the two facilities would present a challenge. There was also a ban proposed on consumption of marijuana within a certain proximity of licensed marijuana dispensaries; this was also argued against by some members of the rules advisory committee who stated that consumers need a legal area to smoke marijuana.
“These are things that adults in Oregon want to do,” stated chief petitioner of Measure 91, Anthony Johnson. “They voted to be able to utilize it. “The state is better off if it’s done in a regulated manner.”
The fees were the biggest issue at Friday’s meeting. Several members said that expensive costs would sway people away from joining the marijuana market. Through Oregon’s recreational marijuana market, Oregon will be issuing licenses to producers, processors, wholesalers, retailers, laboratories, and researchers. The fees that have been proposed are incredibly higher than the fees posed in Measure 91. The legislature of Oregon required this year that licensing states generate enough money to cover regulation and enforcement. The executive director of the liquor commission, Steven Marks, says that the fees proposed are simply estimates of how much it is going to cost to regulate the marijuana program. Once off the ground, he added, the issue may be revised
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