On September 2nd the Oregon Cannabis Association held an event where both OLCC and OHA spoke about licensing and upcoming changes. Here are the big takeaways for those who missed the event:
1. The deadline to be compliant with the ODA is being pushed back.
2. All labeling and packaging needs to be compliant by October 1st. Period.
3. That means non-compliant packaging and labeling must come off the shelves and either be returned to the vendor, re-packaged and labeled or destroyed. You may also transfer your product to a pre-approved packaged with a generic label but your old label must come off.
4. If you are re-packaging and labeling then you will need to get re-tested to go back through intake if it is after October 1st.
5. The lab deadline of October 1st is NOT statutory. That means this can be changed and I understand that this conversation is being had.
6. OLCC stated that licensing is going to pick up the pace and they expect to license 25 business a week from here on out. At my estimate that only gets us 375 more licensees before early sales ends. Which means that more than half of the applicants, who have paid for their application, will stay unlicensed after January 1st and the end of early sales.
7. Almost no one has received pre-approval for their packaging and labeling as of last Friday. Like, 12 businesses. That’s it. Also, Jamie Dickenson is out of town this week and she is who approves packages and labels.
8. OHA can not fix the early sales deadline.
9. If you make edibles and they can not be scored then you can put a diagram card in your package so people understand what a serving size looks like.
This is clearly a short summary of the big issues. The OCA taped this meeting and I have the power point that OLCC presented at the meeting. Please let me know if you need or want either of these things. Onward!