June 5, 2019
Page 3
INSIDE L O C A L N E W S
The
Week in Review
M ETRO
page 2
page 7
Adam Smith, founder and executive director of the Oregon Craft Cannabis Alliance is shown a marijua-
na variety by Tree PDX marijuana shop owner Brooke Smith at her shop in Portland. Smith is part of a
newly formed group that will launch an ad campaign to support mom-and-pop cannabis retailers.
Market Awash in Pot
New limits considered on supply and demand
Oregon is awash in pot, glut-
ted with so much legal weed that
if growing were to stop today, it
could take more than six years by
one estimate to smoke or eat it all.
Now, the state is looking to curb
production.
Five years after voters legalized
recreational marijuana, lawmak-
ers are moving to give the Oregon
Liquor Control Commission more
leeway to deny new pot-growing
licenses based on supply and de-
mand.
The bill, which passed the Sen-
ate and is now before the House,
is aimed not just at reducing the
huge surplus but at preventing di-
version of unsold legal marijuana
into the black market and fore-
stalling a crackdown by federal
prosecutors.
pages 10-11
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
Supply is running twice as
high as demand, meaning that the
surplus from last year’s harvest
alone could amount to roughly 2.3
million pounds of marijuana, by
the liquor commission’s figures.
That’s the equivalent of over 1 bil-
lion joints.
Across the state, the weed is
cultivated in a multitude of fields,
greenhouses and converted facto-
ries, with 1,123 active producer
licenses issued by the OLLC over
the past three years.
The legislation could be a life-
line to some cannabis businesses
that are being squeezed by market
forces.
Retail prices in Oregon for
legal pot have plummeted from
more than $10 per gram in Octo-
ber 2016 to less than $5 last De-
cember. At the same time, smaller
marijuana businesses are feeling
competition from bigger, richer
players, some from out of state.
Officials worry that some li-
cense holders will become so des-
perate they will divert their prod-
uct into the black market rather
than see it go unsold.
Opponents say the proposed
law will drive growers who are de-
nied licenses into the illegal mar-
ket, if they’re not there already.
Oregon puts no cap on the num-
ber of licenses that can be issued.
Last June, the OLCC stopped ac-
cepting applications so it could
process a months long backlog.
But under current law, it has no
specific authority to say no to oth-
erwise qualified applicants.
--Associated Press
New Deputy Chief of Staff at City Hall
O PINION
C LASSIFIEDS
C ALENDAR
pages 12-13
pages 14-15
page 15
Mayor Ted Wheeler has hired
Jamal Fox as his new Deputy
Chief of Staff.
Fox most recently served as a
property and business develop-
ment manager for Portland Parks
and Recreation. His prior expe-
rience was marked by becom-
ing the youngest member ever
elected to the Greensboro, N.C.
City Council. He also is a former
adjunct political science profes-
sor at North Carolina A&T State
University.
“I am pleased to welcome Ja- Jamal Fox
mal Fox to the team. His extensive
experience as a former elected
leader, educator, and as a commu-
nity advocate will be invaluable
to our team. I look forward to his
leadership as we continue to work
hard for all Portlanders,” Wheeler
said in a news release.
On a personal note, Fox is a
proud husband and a new father.
He takes over the role left vacant
after the Mayor promoted his
then Deputy Chief of Staff Kris-
tin Dennis to Chief of Staff earlier
this year.