Surprising no one, recent findings show that most hemp in Oregon runs hot. By this I mean it is generally designed to get you lit.
This hemp is often sold and marketed online without age verification, in packaging attractive to minors, or at unlicensed retail stores. Most labels lack clear potency information, and the products are not traceable to test results. On the bright side, the report didn’t seem to turn up much pesticide contamination, although 4 of the 51 samples contained prohibited “artificially derived cannabinoids.” Those are semisynthetic substances like delta-8 THC or CBN derived from CBD.
Not a great look overall. But again, no surprise.
The technical report at issue runs 45 pages, and covers marijuana as well as hemp. It was produced by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) in conjunction with the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA). The OLCC’s news release published alongside the report summarizes things nicely. I’m not going to recap it—you can click the link. But I’ll share a few quick thoughts.
The hemp product registry isn’t working (yet)
Last year, Oregon House Bill 4121 tasked OLCC with overseeing the establishment of a hemp product registry. I wrote about it here and here. Aside from that coverage, hemp-related aspects of HB 4121 didn’t get a lot of press. This is because the marquee provision of HB 4121 was a permanent cap on marijuana licenses. That sexy topic dominated the headlines.
The hemp aspects of the bill were important too, though. And they were there because everyone has long known about the issues highlighted in this week’s report. Thus HB 4121 contained a myriad of regulatory and law enforcement provisions in respect of hemp—including the creation of a registration program for hemp products. One aspect of this program is a hemp vendor license. In December, I explained that:
The [hemp vendor license requirement] took effect July 1. At that time, I wrote that the rule was “very broad and likely to catch people off guard.” That proved to be the case in my experience, including with respect to OLCC—I ended up writing them on September 30 after stumbling across incorrect FAQs on the topic. My guess is that a large number of Oregon businesses are still unaware of the license requirement, and therefore not compliant, and that it doesn’t really matter because enforcement is sparse or nonexistent.
I believe this is still the case. Few hemp vendors, whether online or brick-and-mortar, local or out-of-state, understand there are rules around selling hemp to Oregon consumers. Or that they need a license of any type.
I’m still not aware of any enforcement around this and I don’t think anyone selling hemp is all that worried. Let’s see if anything changes with the publication of this preliminary report and further rulemaking around the topic. But again, best to keep a lid on expectations.
Most hemp growers don’t care
When the 2018 Farm Bill passed, legalizing hemp, many growers moved into the ODA system with no intention of growing cannabis for fiber or grain. In an old blog post tracing the evolution of regulated Oregon cannabis, I explained that in 2019 “people started to use ODA licenses as cover for diversion . . . . as opposed to persisting in the OHA (medical marijuana) system.”
Oregon hemp, like hemp nationwide, has always been an intoxicating products game. Maybe one day the disconnect between fiber and grain farmers, on the one hand, and manufacturers, on the other, will resolve. And demand will follow and it will become a winning proposition to grow industrial hemp. Someday.
I don’t think Oregon can fix it
The OLCC news release offers a sunny subtitle: “Agency sets path forward for better compliance.” The report also lays out three key measures, which include: 1) honest labeling requirements; 2) product testing and 3) enforcement and penalties— including fines on out of state operators. Good luck guys! Been talking about all of this stuff for over a decade.
I don’t think hemp is all that regulable at this point, for the same reason that “marijuana” has always been such a cluster for states. The reason is that federal law and policy make it so. With hemp in particular, the feds did nothing of consequence to stem the tide of intoxicating products, or of hemp in food and beverages for that matter. This dynamic puts the states in an impossible position.
Still, Oregon keeps saying we will give this a shot. I haven’t talked to anyone down in Salem in a minute; my guess is this report will galvanize some conversations around proposed cannabis bills in the ongoing legislative session.
Elsewhere, the news cycle on this should fade pretty fast. My guess is that next year at this time, you and your niece and your nephew will be free to buy funky hemp products in Oregon—both in stores and online.
