Smoke Signals
If you're intent upon breaking into the Oregon cannabis industry right now, you'll find the regulatory sledding to be somewhere between tough and impossible.
Upon the passage of Oregon Senate Bill 218, signed into law by Gov. Kate Brown on June 17, 2019, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission instituted a moratorium on all new marijuana producer (farming) applications that will last until at least Jan. 2, 2022. As such, those who submitted a new producer application anytime within the past six months, are guaranteed to be waiting for at least two years, and likely much longer.
By Jeremy Dickman
Jan 22, 2020
OLCC application regulation cannabis marijuana farm farmer
Smoke Signals
Local filmmaker launches Kickstarter to fund hemp-focused film
With so many changes happening in the hemp industry in the U.S. these days, it can be tough for even industry players to keep up. And with Central Oregon forging a solid reputation as an ideal location to grow it, there's plenty of drama, intrigue and policy questions about hemp to cover right here in our backyard.
By Nicole Vulcan
Jan 15, 2020
Smoke Signals
More states going legal. More consumers getting informed. We look at what's ahead for the coming year.
As we enter the new year, there's no shortage of predictions for the cannabis industry. Having just wrapped up a tumultuous year which saw a bloodbath of job and financial losses in both the U.S. and Canada, a cavalcade of reports, articles and blog pieces predict what we can expect in 2020.
By Josh Jardine
Jan 8, 2020
Smoke Signals
2019 wasn't short on marijuana drama
Believe it or not, there was some news in 2019 not totally related to the Oval Office. The U.S. Congress (excluding the do-nothing Senate), the Deschutes County Commission and the Oregon state legislature had a busy 364.5 days when it came to crafting, fighting or violating marijuana policy.
By Jeremy Dickman
Dec 31, 2019
marijuana pot LUBA vape vitamin E Deschutes County
Smoke Signals
A huge increase in production, a massive increase in sales... and more fuzzy guidance from the FDA in 2019
The year 2019 was arguably the biggest year for hemp since it was criminalized in 1937. The passage of the Farm Bill in 2018, along with the skyrocketing interest in—and availability of—CBD made from hemp has been explosive, yet uneven.
By Josh Jardine
Dec 24, 2019
Smoke Signals
Attorneys spar at county hearing
In October, the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals decided that the Deschutes County Commissioners' definition of a "youth activity center" amounted to an unreasonable restriction on marijuana farms. Since then, I have to admit I've been anxiously awaiting another Deschutes County Board meeting to put marijuana land-use on their agenda.
By Jeremy Dickman
Dec 18, 2019
deschutes county land use marijuana youth activity center pot LUBA
Smoke Signals
A survivor of the 1960s shares his experience buying legal weed in Bend for the first time
"Be sure to hide the roaches."
—"Pre-Road Downs," Crosby, Stills & Nash
By Bill Mintiens
Dec 11, 2019
Smoke Signals
Could national legalization be ahead?
For the first time in U.S. history, a congressional committee approved a sweeping reform bill that would remove marijuana from the Drug Enforcement Agency's Controlled Substances list, effectively creating coast-to-coast legalization. The bill would also expunge convictions for a number of marijuana-related crimes and re-invest funds—through a tax on the legal cannabis industry—into communities hardest hit by the drug war.
By Jeremy Dickman
Dec 4, 2019
Smoke Signals
We had the federal government's test pot evaluated for potency and safety. The result? Worse than the worst.
In my last column, I interviewed Elvy Musikka, one of two remaining Americans to receive medical marijuana from the federal government, grown at the University of Mississippi. We were both curious about the potency and terpenes in the 6 pounds of cannabis pre-rolls the feds provide her every year, so I took a few to Green Leaf Labs to be tested.
By Josh Jardine
Nov 27, 2019
Smoke Signals
The ups and downs of being a test case for the federal government's Investigative New Drug program
Over the years of writing this column, I've gotten to meet and interview a lot of great people. One of my all-time favorite subjects to spend time with is Elvy Musikka, who I profiled in 2017 for being one of the last remaining Americans approved to receive cannabis from the federal government for medical conditions.
By Josh Jardine
Nov 20, 2019
elvy musikka pot marijuana
Smoke Signals
USDA breaks silence on hemp rules
After years of state governments greenlighting hemp production, and following several appeals from numerous members of Congress, the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week issued its (paradoxically titled) interim final hemp rules for nationwide hemp farming.
By Jeremy Dickman
Nov 13, 2019
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