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Wallowa.com
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
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Audit: State failing to regulate marijuana
By Claire Withycombe
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon’s
system for regulating legal
cannabis likely fails to pre-
vent spillover to the black
market, state auditors said
Wednesday.
That increases the risk
that the state could be sub-
ject to more federal scrutiny,
said Secretary of State Den-
nis Richardson, whose audits
division released a report on
state regulation of cannabis.
Oregon has two systems
for legal cannabis: medical,
which voters approved more
than 20 years ago, and recre-
ational, which Oregon voters
supported in 2014. Auditors
studied the controls on each
program, finding there were
significant gaps.
While a growing num-
ber of states are legalizing
cannabis, it remains illegal
federally.
In early 2018, then-At-
torney General Jeff Sessions
rescinded previous federal
guidance on cannabis that
had allowed more leeway for
state-legal programs during
the Obama administration.
Shortly thereafter, Oregon’s
top federal prosecutor, Billy
Williams, made headlines
when he lambasted what he
claimed was a rampant prob-
lem of diversion from the
state, with tons of legally
grown Oregon cannabis
leaking across state lines and
into the black market.
State auditors waded into
the fray this year, finding
that state oversight is insuf-
ficient, particularly when it
comes to medical marijuana.
Additionally, they said, the
state could improve testing
of marijuana products to pro-
tect public health and should
consider testing cannabis
products for heavy metals
and microbiological contam-
inants. It should also make
sure labs that test cannabis
are consistently accredited.
Although it has worked
AP Photo/Don Ryan, File/East Oregonian
Marijuana plants are shown at a facility in Springfield.
to beef up tracking of mari-
juana products, the Oregon
Liquor Control Commission
is hamstrung in efforts to
prevent diversion due to data
errors and a lack of inspec-
tions, according to the report.
The agency was over-
whelmed by “rapid” growth
of the cannabis market, audi-
tors said, and was unable to
get the staff, licenses and
inspections it needed to ade-
quately oversee the program.
Just 3 percent of licensed
retailers have undergone a
state compliance inspection,
while 32 percent of growers
have, according to the audit.
The agency halted pro-
cessing new recreational
marijuana license applica-
tions in June so state officials
could catch up on a backlog.
Gov. Kate Brown wants to
change state law to allow the
OLCC to cap licenses based
on market demand and other
factors.
The state doesn’t have
as much authority to regu-
late medical growers’ activ-
ities, auditors said. And they
found there aren’t enough
inspectors of medical can-
nabis, there is high turn-
over among the inspectors
the program does have, and
money coming into the pro-
gram through fees is drop-
ping off.
In a press release, Rich-
ardson said that prevent-
ing diversion of cannabis is
“imperative to ensure federal
authorities maintain confi-
dence in Oregon’s ability to
adequately regulate the use
and sale of marijuana.”
Directors of the Ore-
gon Liquor Control Com-
mission and the Ore-
gon Health Authority said
they agreed with auditors’
recommendations.
Oregon looks at Quebec for carbon tax cap and trade model
By Aubrey Wieber
Oregon Capital Bureau
As Oregon considers lim-
iting carbon emissions to
spare the environment, expe-
rience in Canada with a simi-
lar effort yields clues to what
might happen.
The province of Que-
bec’s cap and trade program,
started in 2013, has proven
a boon to the economy and
technological
innovation
while cutting emission lev-
els, said Elizabeth MacKay, a
representative of the Quebec
government who is based in
Los Angeles.
“Our
economy
has
grown steadily,” MacKay
said. “In fact, at 2015 it was
at 3.1 percent (growth), and
that’s our strongest showing
since 2000. We have no evi-
dence that any company has
left Quebec because of cap
and trade.”
MacKay was in Oregon
to speak at a conference on
carbon reduction held by the
University of Oregon Law
School. She testified last fall
before the Joint Committee
on Carbon Reduction.
Cap and trade differs
from a traditional carbon tax.
Instead of charging polluters
for what they emit, they must
pay for their pollution over
set limits — the cap. They do
this by buying allowances to
exceed the cap.
In Oregon, the money
the state brings in from sell-
ing such allowances would
be spent on environmen-
tally friendly projects big and
small, anything from ener-
gy-efficient windows in a
home to electronic mass tran-
sit for a city.
In recent years, the Leg-
islature has considered such
proposals but has not acted.
In 2018, the issue was tabled
due to a lack of time in the
short session.
On Thursday, the House
and Senate Republican cau-
cuses asked to have carbon
policy fashioned the way
big transportation and edu-
cation packages were. Those
involved legislators touring
the state to get input from
stakeholders and every-
day Oregonians. That would
mean delaying the legislation
at least a year.
Carol Montreuil, a vice
president for the Canadian
Fuels Association, has seen
this process play out in Que-
bec, and his advice to Ore-
gon industry is to collaborate
with government, not fight it.
“You need to be sitting at
the same table,” he said.
Montreuil said initially,
the idea was to have 12 or
more jurisdictions around
Quebec implement cap
and trade at the same time,
which would provide uni-
form regulation for indus-
try. He said the fear was that
Quebec would end up being
alone, making fuel and man-
ufacturing more expensive in
Quebec than in neighboring
jurisdictions.
Those fears proved right.
Quebec is now the only
Canadian province with a cap
and trade system. But he said
through repeated talks with
the government over years,
politicians responded to relax
the regulation enough to
keep Quebec’s business com-
munity competitive.
“The government in Que-
bec was brilliant in under-
standing they were alone in
Canada, and they have to
adjust the stringency accord-
ingly,” he said. “They learned
to walk before they learned
to run.”
MacKay, who visits Ore-
gon regularly, said while
Quebec’s population is more
than twice that of Oregon and
geographically is more than
six times as vast, the prov-
ince is actually a good com-
parison. Both are rich in nat-
ural resources and have a
focus on hydropower. About
half Quebec’s population is
in urban centers.
Eugene Hayes 97th & Eunice Hayes 93rd
Birthday Celebration
Family and friends are invited
to an Open House
Saturday, February 16, 2019 • 1:00-3:00 p.m.
Wallowa Senior Center
204 East Second Street, Wallowa, Oregon
Your presence is your gift.
Come and share a memory!
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