Oregon‘s early access recreational marijuana market will take an important step forward tomorrow, when access to low dose concentrated and edible cannabis products comes online for adults 21 and older.
Oregon voters legalized recreational pot in 2014 and, in a widely-respected attempt to replace the black market with a regulated industry, state lawmakers decided in the fall of 2015 to allow licensed medical marijuana dispensaries to serve as temporary retailers for the state’s recreational market. Since then, recreational consumers have been able to purchase flower, seeds, and clones from dispensaries, but edibles and concentrates have remained off-limits.
As per the new rules, dispensaries will be allowed to sell:
- One unit of a single-serving, low-dose cannabinoid edible to an individual per day. A unit of a low-dose cannabinoid edible can contain more than one edible as long as the total THC in the unit does not exceed 15 milligrams.
- One prefilled receptacle of a cannabinoid extract that does not contain more than 1,000 milligrams of THC to an individual per day.
- Nonpsychoactive medical cannabinoid products intended to be applied to a person’s skin or hair.
The rules also require that all edible products in Oregon dispensaries be clearly labeled for THC content, and the Oregon Health Authority suggests that consumers start with “less than the 15 mg per unit limit and wait at least 90 minutes and up to four hours before eating or drinking more.”
Officials from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) are in the process of licensing recreational marijuana producers, testing labs, and research institutes. Many dispensaries are expected to pursue a license to continue serving the recreational market, and the state should begin awarding retailer licenses sometime this fall.
Somewhere between 1,200 and 2,000 license applications are expected during 2016, and the OLCC expects to award some 850 licenses before the year’s conclusion.