Oregon’s license application process for recreational marijuana opened Jan. 4, building on a year of public meetings and an early recreational sale last October.
The state’s licensing process runs differently than others like Florida, where licenses are limited to a specific number of players in the market. In Oregon, anyone is able to apply for a recreational license.
The application was available online at 6 a.m. Monday. According to an article in the Oregonian, more than 70 people had already filled out the application by noon, including 36 applications from producers, 18 for retail locations, eight for processors and eight for wholesalers.
Steve Marks, director of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, says in the article the agency will prioritize applications, reviewing outdoor production facilities and laboratories first.
A focus on labs early on is no surprise, as the Oregon Health Committee’s temporary rules for legal marijuana requires testing for nearly 60 pesticides, as we reported previously. The pesticides include Fludioxonil, Spinosad and Propiconazole, as well as others, and every batch must be tested for pesticides, microbiological contaminants, water activity and THC and CBD concentration.
Though Oregon’s medical marijuana program started in 1998, the recreational program wasn’t supposed to start until 2016. As we reported, it got an early launch Oct. 1, sold alongside medical marijuana with special rules and a tax holiday until the Jan. 1 deadline. Many buyers took advantage of the program, with a KATU article reporting 600 people a day from Brothers Cannabis in Southeast Portland.
The OLCC developed a Business Readiness Guidebook for applicants to develop plans before starting paperwork, which can be found online here.
