Two Cannabis Bills Signed In Oregon

Governor Kate Brown signed two bills that made drastic differences to Oregon’s recreational cannabis program. The first includes a bill that removes a 2-year residency requirement for those licensed for cannabis while the second looks to attract small medical cultivators into the system.

The two bills are respectively called Senate Bill 1598 and House Bill 4014. Senate Bill 1511, which gives dispensaries the ability to sell edibles that contain cannabis in them and concentrates earlier than expected. On the other hand, House Bill 4094 gives banks and credit unions the ability to handle legal cannabis businesses without being subject to incarceration. These two are still awaiting Brown’s approval.

Here is a quick look at the two bills that the governor signed. Senate Bill 1598 makes it more convenient for some medical cannabis cultivators to enter the regulated cannabis market by getting rid of a paperwork requirement when applying for Oregon’s recreational cannabis licenses. The goal of the provision is to help bring smaller farmers into the regulated cannabis system through a “micro-canopy license, which would come with lower fees and fewer requirements.”

Also, Senate Bill 1598 adds medical and experimental cannabis growth as recognized farm crops. As a result, this will make the marijuana easier to locate in farm areas and to protect them from lawsuits filed by neighbors over recognized annoyances such as odor. Recreational cannabis crops are already seen as farm crops under state law.

The bill also makes it clear that home grown medical cannabis are not able to be inspected by the Oregon Health Authority. What this does is “makes a sub-category of dispensaries for nonprofits that may accept” extra marijuana from farmers and sell to patients for lower prices. Also, this needs the health authority to research medical cannabis access in areas once Oregon’s regulated cannabis industry is up and running.