Oregon’s marijuana surplus not gloom and doom of booming market

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission at the end of January issued a study claiming there’s enough marijuana to supply the state’s recreational market for 6.5 years.

The “2019 Recreational Marijuana Supply and Demand Legislative Report” stated the finding was in theory and stems from over-production.

Brandon Krenzler and Erin Purchase argued just how theoretical the finding is. They own and operate Kind Leaf, one of the three retail marijuana stores in Pendleton, and employ about 30 people. They said the the market is far from collapsing, and much of the surplus is stuff that will not sell.

“No one is going to smoke 6-year-old weed,” Krenzler said. “There’s a lot of unwanted product.”

Unlike whiskey, pot does not get better with aging. He said Kind Leaf won’t buy marijuana that’s older than nine months. The OLCC’s 41-page reported repeated the 6.5-year supply five times while making only one mention about waste:

“Almost certainly some amount of the existing inventory in the recreational system will never be sold,” according to the report. [Read more at East Oregonian]