Oregon is renowned for its craft beer and increasingly for its high-grade marijuana, but the state is keeping the two apart — for now.
In a new ruling, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which regulates both alcoholic products and recreational marijuana, says beer and other alcoholic drinks as of Jan. 1 may not contain either THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, or CBD, the non-psychoactive part that is said to relieve stress and pain.
New Jersey
Last week, Politico reported Democratic Senate President Steve Sweeney moved to ban the sale of all vaping products, including marijuana vape products.
That followed New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announcing a task force on vaping that is due to file recommendations in the next three weeks.
“The only safe alternative to smoking is not smoking. Period. Full stop,” Murphy said..
Five years after Oregon legalized recreational marijuana, its lawmakers now are trying to rein in production, fearing the state’s big weed surplus will tempt some licensed businesses to sell their products out of state or on the illegal market.
Such diversions could invite a crackdown from the federal government and cast a pall over the legal pot industry. Last year, the U.S. attorney for the District of Oregon put the state on notice when he announced that curbing interstate trafficking was his top cannabis law enforcement priority.
As New Jersey’s cannabis legalization talks continue behind closed doors — and some speculate they may fall apart — people in the Garden State are still lighting up joints. According to federal government estimates, 22.2 million Americans have used marijuana in the past month. And depending on where you live and buy, the cost can be considerable.
Down a quiet country road in Warwick, N.Y., just north of the Jersey border, past homes on large lots, an elementary school and open fields that create a patchwork quilt of greens and browns, is a farm where marijuana's close relative — hemp — is grown and cultivated.
Although both belong to the cannabis family, hemp may be grown legally in New York and New Jersey, but marijuana — not yet.
Acreage Holdings has licenses in 17 states, of which 12 are operational, while the company has licenses to process in 12 states, seven of which are now in operation. The company has licenses to operate 68 retail dispensaries in 12 states, of which 21 are currently operational in 10 states. The Botanist is its retail concept designed to appeal to both adult use and medicinal consumers.
When the details of the legislation were first made public last week, there were reports almost immediately that the proposed initial 10 percent tax rate was too low for Governor Phil Murphy.
That 10 percent rate would be the lowest in the country among states that allow recreational marijuana sales.
Determining the appropriate rate requires legislators to weigh two critical but competing factors: revenue versus black market. It’s an issue directly addressed in the bill:
Dispensary to doorstep
The Garden State could become one of just four states — joining California, Nevada and Oregon — that allow weed deliveries if the proposed amendments are included in the final bill and signed into law.
Q. Can you tell me about your marijuana venture?
But the effort appears to be moving slowly in the Legislature, and Republicans say they view that as a sign legalization doesn't have enough support to pass the Democrat-led Legislature.
"A number of legislators remain opposed, which would turn that $60 million into a zero," said Republican Assemblyman Brian Rumpf, who opposes legalization and sits on the oversight committee that is considering the issue.
Republican state Sen. Declan O'Scanlon says he's undecided on the issue but thinks the discussion of fiscal year 2019 budget revenues is probably moot.