On behalf of our members we strongly support legal cannabis export and believe that it is essential to the long-term health and success of Oregon’s cannabis industry.  Accordingly, we appreciate the intent of this bill but we have concerns with the language and would suggest several changes. 

National legalization and the ability to export cannabis nationally and internationally is an inevitability at this point. National polling from October showed the 66% of Americans now support legalization, thirty-three states have medical cannabis and ten states plus Washington D.C. have recreational cannabis and there is every indication that these trends are continuing rapidly.  

That being said we do not know how, when and in what manner national legalization and/or legal export of cannabis will happen.  For example, there could be a period where cannabis is not descheduled but export is allowed between states with compliant medical and recreational programs or there could just be full national legalization with states opting in.

As we cannot predict the manner by which export becomes legal we strongly believe that an export bill should provide as much flexibility as possible to the Governor’s office and the OLCC to authorize and regulate the export of cannabis as soon as it is legally possible under as many legal structures as possible.

Therefore we would advocate for changes amendments to this bill to ensure that the following goals are achieved: 

1) Provide enough flexibility and authority to the Governor’s office and the OLCC to export cannabis as soon as is legally feasible without having to come back to the legislature (since we don’t know when legalization might happen). 

2) Provide guidance, resources, benchmarks for the Governors administration and the OLCC to develop the necessary rules, administrative structures, and systems to regulate cannabis export ahead time.

3) Establish a reasonable and nationally competitive tax rate for exported cannabis. And, ensure that a significant portion of the taxes are fairly distributed to the counties in relation to amount of cannabis being farmed.

Thank you for your time and please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Respectfully,

Casey Houlihan
Executive Director
Oregon Retailers of Cannabis Association

http://www.oregoncannabisretailers.com

Two in Three Americans Now Support Legalizing Marijuana 

https://news.gallup.com/poll/243908/two-three-americans-support-legalizing-marijuana.aspx