PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - When Oregon lawmakers created the state's legal marijuana program, they made low barriers to entry to convince pot growers to leave the black market.
As a result, weed production boomed, but with a bitter consequence.
Now marijuana prices in Oregon are in freefall, and the farmers who put Oregon on the map decades before legalization are losing their now-legal businesses.
Oregon regulators have announced they will stop processing new applications for marijuana licenses in two weeks and want state lawmakers to take up the issue next year.
As the market stumbles, experts say the dizzying evolution of Oregon's marijuana industry may well be a cautionary tale for California.
Top photo courtesy of Adobe Stock
