Hemp is an ancient plant. The Romans and Babylonians recognized its useful properties in creating rope, textiles and even pharmaceuticals. Hemp stalks helped build bridges in medieval Europe. George Washington himself grew hemp to construct sails and nets for fishing the Potomac River. That is to say, humans have had some 5,000 years to study—and […]
Jeremy Dickman
Posted inNews
Pot vs. Pinot
Marijuana farm blamed for flagging grape sales
A case of allegedly tainted grapes in Yamhill County is a topic of conversation around the state. In April, Momtazi Family LLC, a vineyard located in McMinnville, filed a lawsuit under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act against a nearby marijuana farm. Yamhill Naturals, which runs the adjacent marijuana farm on property owned by Steven, […]
Posted inNews
Opting Out, and Beyond
Deschutes County Commissioners add a measure to the 2020 ballot, and debate fighting LUBA on rule changes
At the Barnes Sawyer Room, where the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners holds public meetings, anytime the issue of marijuana is on the agenda visitors will find anti-marijuana activists staring down speakers, nodding solemnly and doing their darnedest to guide the Board in stamping out the scourge of marijuana that creeps like a bad dream […]
Posted inNews
Opt Out Afoot
Deschutes County plans to add a measure to the 2020 ballot, asking residents to weigh in on future marijuana growing operations
In making a decision during their Aug. 8 Deschutes County Board meeting to “opt out” of allowing further marijuana business applications, commissioners have ensured that the country mouse/city mouse fight over cannabis farms will go through the 2020 election. And perhaps beyond. If you haven’t been closely following the county’s marijuana soap opera, here’s a […]
Posted inNews
H2 Woes
Cannabis increasingly scapegoated over water usage
Let’s talk about water. One of the most common complaints from appellants who object to new marijuana production facilities in the outlying areas of town is water usage. Everyone from laypeople armed with anecdotes, to attorneys presenting statistics regarding well depths, have confronted local government in righteous, “environmentally conscious” indignation over the amount of precious […]
Posted inNews
Zero Margin of Error
For local cannabis companies, staying within the bounds of the law becomes even more crucial
It’s time to come clean and admit it: I’m a supporter of the cannabis industry (I know, pick up your jaw, please). I firmly believe our decades-long strategy of prohibition has failed. Cops should not be locking up people whose only crime is a desire to make a Jimmy Page guitar solo a transcendental experience. […]
Posted inNews
Marijuana amendments take back seat to demagoguery at county board meeting
The Barnes-Sawyer room was jam-packed July 3, mostly with vocally anti-marijuana residents.
When rural residents in Deschutes County get a chance to holler into a microphone about the menacing presence of ganja farms staining their holy, pristine wilderness, community theater usually ensues. This was definitely the case last week, when the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners held a meeting to discuss amendments to marijuana rules that the […]
Posted inNews
Oregon is Ready to Get the Nation High
Some progress at the state and federal level; locally, however, another denial
Oregon’s weed industry has many enemies. From the Drug Enforcement Agency, to the U.S. Justice Department, to local-government hostiles who perpetuate reefer-madness myths, to an endless parade of complicated regulations and taxes; it’s a scary world out there for pot proprietors. But the biggest enemy may be a result of the sticky icky itself: Oversupply. […]
Posted inNews
Legislating Morality Through Land Use
County Commission witnesses a festering fissure
After five months of watching his co-Commissioners scour all marijuana land-use and site-plan applications for potential frailties, Deschutes County Commissioner Tony DeBone seems to have had enough. During a June 5 deliberation, the Commission was discussing an appeal of a previously-approved application for a marijuana dispensary in Tumalo. DeBone all but scolded Commissioners Phil Henderson […]
Posted inNews
Central Oregon’s Bumper Crop May be Hemp
When your grandparents or neighbors in Central Oregon get riled up about a skunk smell in the air, it almost certainly isn’t the wacky tobacky variety. It may simply be hemp—also a member of the cannabis family, but a crop that doesn’t contain the mind-altering THC of marijuana. That’s because Deschutes is a boom county […]