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FILE – On September 30, 2016, the photo shows a marijuana bud before harvesting in a rural area near Corvallis, Oregon. The Oregon agency that oversees the legal marijuana medical industry admits in a report that it has not effectively overseen producers and others, creating opportunities for Weeds are diverted to the highly profitable black market. (Andrew Selsky, File / Associated Press)
SALEM, OR – How much medical marijuana is in the pipeline in Oregon? State program managers admit that they simply do not know it because of the lax statements of producers and the lack of site inspectors.
This creates opportunities for marijuana to be diverted to the lucrative black market. Federal authorities have long complained
Oregon was one of the first states to legalize medical marijuana in 1998 and, in 2014, voters approved recreational use. The state's struggle to transform a business that for decades had been operating illegally in the shadow of a regulated industry sets the example for other states that are moving toward legalization .
The medical marijuana program, admitted that he did not provide effective oversight of producers and others in the industry.
"The potentially erroneous report coupled with low ratio compliance makes it difficult to accurately track the amount of product in the medical system.This limits the ability of OMMP to identify and resolve potential diversion problems," the report says.
The report shows that there were more than 20,000 pot growing sites, but only 58 inspections in 2017.
Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen ordered the review internal amid complaints from law enforcement officials who say they often have trouble identifying which marijuana growers are legal.Seen from a helicopter just before the harvest season, the marijuana grows like a green patchwork across a southwestern county, said anti-drug officer.
In Deschutes County, sheriff and prosecutor celebrated their frustrations. black market to proliferate through lack of surveillance. They asked the health authority to provide a list of medical marijuana grow sites, but the agency refused, saying the law did not allow him to provide such a list.
The health authority said the confidentiality of addresses of cultivation sites is protected by law, but added that she is studying ways to work more closely with law enforcement agencies. to grow marijuana for medical purposes. The Deschutes County Sheriff, Shane Nelson, told the Associated Press Friday, in reaction to the report, that "these places should be made available to the forces of order"
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"More than 40,000 Oregonians depend on medical marijuana to treat their qualifying medical conditions," said Allen
. medical marijuana dispensaries since the opening of adult entertainment stores in January 2017. That month, there were 172; as of December 2017, there were only 19 medical marijuana companies, which are regulated by the Liquor Control Board. The medical marijuana program lacks reliable and independent tools to validate the location of culture sites and relies on inconsistent county databases, according to the report.
Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel congratulated Allen for commissioning the study.
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Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky.
Find full AP marijuana coverage here: https://apnews.com/tag/LicenseMarijuana
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This document may not be published, distributed, rewritten or redistributed.
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