NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Oregon marijuana prices plunge — and sales soar
PORTLAND (AP) —
Rampant overproduction in
Oregon’s market for legal,
recreational marijuana has
produced a 50 percent drop
in prices, according to state
economists. That widely
documented collapse has
been tough on farmers and
retailers — but a boon for
consumers.
A new state analysis finds
the price collapse sparked a
big uptick in marijuana pur-
chases and a corresponding
increase in associated tax
revenue, The Oregonian/
OregonLive reported.
“Lower prices are helping
to drive the volume of sales
higher and induce black and
medical market conversions
into” the legal, recreational
market, said Josh Lehner of
the Oregon Office of Econo-
mist Analysis.
Recreational
mari-
juana sales in Oregon will
be nearly $543 million this
year, up 29 percent from
2017 and well above econ-
omists’ expectations, fore-
casts show.
When Oregon legalized
marijuana four years ago,
expectations were enormous
for the newly legal mar-
ket. The state created incen-
tives for producers to leave
the black market, leading
to overproduction and the
ensuing price decrease.
A state study found the
retail cost of a gram of mar-
ijuana plunged from $14 in
2015 to $7 last year.
Recreational marijuana
remains a small industry,
relative to the size of Ore-
gon’s economy. For compar-
ison, economists note that
cigarette sales are 40 per-
cent higher than marijuana
sales. But legal marijuana is
growing fast — state fore-
casts suggest it will be a bil-
lion-dollar market in 2025.
While Oregon has no
general sales tax, it does
levy a 17 percent sales tax
on marijuana. Marijuana
taxes generated nearly $70
AP Photo/Andrew Selsky, File
Different strains of marijuana for sale are displayed in Salem in 2017. Rampant over-
production in Oregon’s market for legal, recreational marijuana has produced a 50
percent drop in prices, according to state economists. That widely documented col-
lapse has been tough on farmers and retailers, but a boon for consumers.
million in revenue last year
and are forecast to generate
nearly $90 million in 2018.
State forecasters believe
marijuana may eventually
play a more important role
in the state’s economy.
“The real economic
impact from recreational
marijuana will come not
from the growing and retail-
ing, which are low-wage
and low value-added mar-
ket segments,” economists
wrote in a revenue fore-
cast issued last week. “It
will come from higher val-
ue-added products like oils,
creams, and edibles, in
addition to niche, specialty
strains.”
The rise of marijuana
in Oregon could evoke the
emergence of craft brewing
in the state, the economists
wrote, with value-added
production augmented by a
cluster of suppliers and sup-
port industries.
“The long-term poten-
tial of exporting Ore-
gon products and business
know-how to the rest of
the country remains large,”
economists wrote, “at least
once marijuana is legalized
nationwide.”
Analysis suggests keeping Medford Air Tanker Base operating
MEDFORD (AP) —
Analysts say the U.S. For-
est Service should keep the
Medford Air Tanker Base
open if other agencies help
pay the $245,000 annual
cost.
The
Mail
Tribune
reports in a story on Fri-
day that the Forest Service
commissioned the inde-
pendent analysis earlier
this year and recently made
the results public.
The air tanker base
is about 55 miles from
another air tanker base in
Klamath Falls, and the For-
est Service is considering
closing one of them to save
money.
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Areas of fog,
freezing early
Mostly cloudy and
chilly
Cloudy with spotty
showers
Mostly cloudy with
a shower
Mostly cloudy
40° 26°
44° 36°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
54° 40°
48° 35°
46° 33°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
38° 25°
41° 32°
53° 41°
50° 34°
OREGON FORECAST
50° 32°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Olympia
56/44
48/32
45/22
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
37/27
Lewiston
37/25
53/37
Astoria
57/44
Pullman
Yakima 42/24
53/35
49/29
Portland
Hermiston
53/39
The Dalles 38/25
Salem
Corvallis
53/34
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
47/30
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
53/37
52/31
51/33
Ontario
45/18
Caldwell
Burns
33°
17°
49°
32°
67° (2012) 10° (1929)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
53/37
0.00"
0.01"
0.72"
6.46"
8.42"
8.00"
WINDS (in mph)
46/20
45/9
0.00"
0.10"
0.87"
8.25"
14.52"
10.86"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 47/27
54/37
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
40/26
44/32
40°
20°
47°
32°
74° (1897) 7° (2014)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
53/34
Aberdeen
42/26
41/27
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
55/43
Today
63/41
Wed.
NE 3-6
N 4-8
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
NE 3-6
ENE 3-6
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
56/31
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:01 a.m.
4:20 p.m.
3:26 p.m.
3:48 a.m.
Full
Last
New
First
Nov 22
Nov 29
Dec 6
Dec 15
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 88° in Immokalee, Fla. Low -10° in Bodie State Park, Calif.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
60s
cold front
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211
333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211
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Copyright © 2018, EO Media Group
Jackson County com-
missioners are against clos-
ing the base, particularly
after
lightning-sparked
fires in the region earlier
this year.
“It would have been
crazy in my opinion to even
consider closing Medford
down, and we’re extremely
fortunate to have it,” Com-
missioner Rick Dyer said.
“We would probably be
in an even worse situation
without it.”
Merv George, supervi-
sor of the Rogue River-Sis-
kiyou National Forest, said
he backs keeping the Med-
ford base open.
“I will tell you that as
far as I’m hanging around
in this part of the country, I
am going to throw my sup-
port behind keeping that
base here and getting the
resources that we need to
make sure that it’s fully
functional,” he told Jack-
son County commissioners
recently. “Because when
we’re running and gunning
with all the fires, it’s really
helpful to have a base close
by.”
Firefighting costs have
far exceeded the cost of
keeping the base run-
ning. The Forest Service,
according to October esti-
mates, has spent more than
$200 million in southwest-
ern Oregon fighting fires
over the last year.
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
Seattle
About 60 percent of
the retardant delivered
from the Medford base
is by agencies other than
the Forest Service. Those
agencies pay for the retar-
dant, flight time, landing
fees and other costs, but
they aren’t helping to pay
for maintenance of the air
base.
“That’s the business
model that isn’t working,”
said Amanda Lucas-Rice,
Southwest Oregon Inter-
agency Unit Aviation Offi-
cer for the Forest Service
and U.S. Bureau of Land
Management.
She said talks are ongo-
ing between the agencies
about splitting up costs.
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
Oregon Treasury pushes gun
safety reforms on manufacturers
SALEM (AP) — Oregon has joined a
coalition of states intent on changing how
they invest money in the firearms industry
to push gun safety reforms.
The Statesman Journal reports the move
by the Oregon State Treasury — which
manages the multibillion-dollar Oregon
Public Employees Retirement Fund —
reflects an increased level of scrutiny for
gun-related manufacturers not just from
the halls of Congress, but from low-profile
corners of state government that seek to
influence how the industry does business.
The coalition’s investing principles sup-
port universal background checks, safer
technology for firearms and training for
gun retail employees.
The principles aren’t a set of rules that
forbid any investment in the industry.
Instead, they are a broader framework for
investors doing business with companies.
Oregon joins California, Connecticut,
Florida, Maine and Maryland in the coali-
tion. In their entirety, member states man-
age more than $4.8 trillion, much of it for
government retirees.
“As a fiduciary of a large, diversified
investment portfolio, we frequently engage
companies and encourage them to oper-
ate in ways that increase the odds of strong
long-term returns and to reduce future
investment risks,” Oregon State Treasurer
Tobias Read said in a statement. “With-
out (these gun safety principles) we do not
believe the current path is sustainable.”
The Oregon pension fund’s investment
in the firearms and munitions manufactur-
ing sector is a tiny part of the state’s over-
all portfolio — just a fraction of 1 percent.
The fund has positions in four companies
with a net value that was less than $7 mil-
lion in November 2017, when the state last
ran a report on its holdings in the firearms
sector.
At the time, the fund’s total assets were
about $78 billion, Treasury officials said.
Kevin Starrett, director of the Oregon
Firearms Federation, said Read’s actions
are “typical of Oregon and Democrats.”
“They think if we don’t invest in compa-
nies that are firearms-related, we’re going
to hurt them somehow, but all they do is
make their stocks available to other people
like me,” Starrett said. “It’s what Oregon
Democrats are about. It’s symbolism and
show and amounts to nothing.”
Former Oregon state board
director faces $20K ethics
fine
school teachers.
The commission found Raussen used
his position for financial gain and improp-
erly received gifts from companies that had
an interest in his decision-making.
Records show Raussen’s violations
included accepting gifts of food and game
tickets from insurance companies, using a
state vehicle to visit wineries and extend-
ing a business trip to Las Vegas on the tax-
payer’s dime.
Raussen couldn’t be reached for
comment.
SALEM (AP) — The former director
of the Oregon Educators Benefits Board is
facing a $20,000 fine after an investigation
into his conduct.
The Statesman Journal reports the Ore-
gon Government Ethics Commission lev-
ied the civil penalties in a 10-count ethics
case against James Raussen that began two
years ago.
The commission issued its final order
by default at its November meeting after
Raussen failed to appear at an earlier
hearing.
The Oregon Educators Benefits Board
purchases insurance benefits for public
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