New Oregon Bills Deal with Cannabis Supply and Demand

Senate Bills 582 and 218 have been passed by Oregon lawmakers to help deal with the state’s surplus of marijuana.

Senate Bill 582 will allow Oregon to create agreements with other states to import and export excess marijuana to other legal markets, according to Fox News. It’s not known when this legislation will actually be implemented due to current federal restrictions. Essentially, the governor has the legislation in place when the U.S. government decides to end prohibition.

Adam J. Smith of Craft Cannabis Alliance said, “You have people using water in the desert in Nevada to grow mediocre cannabis, or in Florida, where they have to dehumidify giant spaces, consuming twice the energy. Oregon wouldn’t have an oversupply problem if we could access legal markets like these.”

Senate Bill 218 gives the Oregon Liquor Control Board authority over issuing licenses to marijuana growers. Only when the demand requires more growers will more licenses be issued.

The state already has about 2,100 growers. Those growers have produced a surplus of marijuana that is estimated to take 6 ½ years to sell, which is why exporting to other legal states makes sense for Oregon.