Picture of Southern Oregon Marijauna Plant

Contributed by: Rob Bovett, AOC Legal Counsel

May 6, 2016

 

On May 2, 2016, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) issued their first recreational marijuana production licenses, as the beginning phase in the roll out that will lead to the opening of OLCC licensed retail shops later this year. Attached is the OLCC News Release.

In the meantime, the Oregon Department of Revenue has announced that they have collected nearly 7 million dollars in retail taxes from “early start” sales through dispensaries. Their News Release is here: http://www.oregon.gov/newsroom/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=1078 Early start sales began last October, but taxes on those retail sales didn’t begin until January of this year.

Unfortunately, not much of those taxes will trickle down to local government, as OLCC has borrowed significant money from the Liquor Fund to support its marijuana program start up costs, which must be repaid first. The Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO) has just released a report on marijuana programs, which includes a lot of valuable information and projections, including anticipated distributions of tax revenues to local governments. All of Oregon’s counties are anticipated to receive a total of only $282,317 for the entire 2015-2017 biennium. A copy of the LFO report is attached.

On a positive note, a consortium of industry analysts have issued a new report on job growth in Oregon due to legalization of marijuana, and the burgeoning marijuana industry. Their report is attached. Big thanks to Sam Chapman of New Economy Consulting for sharing that report with AOC Legal Counsel Rob Bovett.

Finally, a reminder that Mr Bovett has created a new web page, which has links to AOC publications relating to marijuana. It is here: http://oregoncounties.org/news/publications/marijuana/

Recent publications include a full 2016 marijuana code, containing relevant Oregon marijuana laws, including those recently passed by the 2016 legislature; a summary of 2016 Oregon marijuana legislation; a PowerPoint on the history of marijuana regulation in Oregon; and a training PowerPoint and booklet for law enforcement regarding new and revised Oregon marijuana offenses that became operative on March 3 of this year.