I don’t know how your stash jar looks starting out the new year, but for cannabis growers in the free state of Oregon it’s overflowing to the point where too much of a good thing has become a reality. That’s because Oregon grew 1.3 million pounds more marijuana than they could sell. That’s over a billion joints worth (give or take the occasionally “fatty”).
According to Willamette Week it would take about seven years for Oregon to consume all of that weed.
Too much too fast
The cannabis industry in Oregon has been consistently expanding since the state legalized marijuana in 2014, which has led to overproduction on a pretty large scale. This has inevitably led many growers to sell their product on the black market, with estimates being that around 1/3 of Oregon’s legally grown marijuana is being sold illegally.
A novel idea: exporting marijuana
Last February Oregon’s Attorney General threatened to get the feds involved if the oversupply issue wasn’t fixed, and despite the fact that state regulators passed new rules to increase industry oversight the glut continues to rise. Now, a group of state lawmakers are talking to cannabis industry insiders in an attempt to craft legislation that will make Oregon the first state to make its cannabis available for export to other states.
The effort is being led by state senator Floyd Prozanski (D- Eugene) who introduced a similar measure (Senate Bill 1042) in 2017 that failed to pass the statehouse. In the previous bill, wholesalers would have been allowed to ship cannabis across state lines as long as the Governor has created agreements with the receiving states. Also, agreements could only be made with neighboring states since shipment could only occur over ground, not via air.
If it becomes law, the bill would allow excess cannabis to be exported to other states where cannabis is legal.
If they are able to pull it off (and if the feds don’t have a conniption) then this idea has the potential to both get rid of the excess product as well as to halt the decline in wholesale marijuana pricing in Oregon.
As someone who lives in a state where an ounce of weed is a felony, this just seems like a really strange problem to have. Don’t ya think?
