Photo courtesy of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission
The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) is continuing to voice concern about product integrity in the state’s cannabis market.
One of the issues that OLCC aims to address is a “loophole.” The agency requires some “licensees that break the law or don’t follow OLCC rules” to surrender their license. However, those licensees can sell their license through the loophole, according to a press release.
At an Aug. 18 meeting, “Commissioners made clear that they don’t want industry poor performers to jeopardize consumer confidence in the regulated recreational marijuana market,” the release states.
Commission Chair Paul Rosenbaum stated that government officials found a lab had a faulty testing process. According to the release, improperly tested products were approved and sold to consumers.
“Consumers in this state have to be one hundred percent sure that we’re complying and doing [testing] safely,” Rosenbaum said, according to the release.
OLCC Compliance Director Jason Hanson told the commission ongoing problems in the state include that companies are adding ingredients to products after testing and then not re-testing; companies are not, when flavoring vapes, following requirements for non-cannabis additives; and companies are manufacturing and distributing products without understanding changes to OLCC rules.
The Commission also ratified the below stipulated settlement agreements:
- Lightscale Labs, a testing lab, will pay either a $5,750 fine or serve a 23-day license suspension for issuing certificates of analysis that stated that “samples did not contain actionable levels of any of the pesticides being tested for and therefore that the samples passed pesticide testing,” despite an equipment failure the lab knew about, according to OLCC.
- Cura Cannabis Solutions, a cannabis processor, will pay a $130,000 fine and serve a 23-day suspension, or pay a $132,750 fine and serve a 12-day suspension, per the release. Cura had multiple violations, according to Commission documents. One was for labeling more than 1,500 units of a tincture with 24.9 milligrams/milliliter (mg/ML) to 36.6 mg/ML of THC as a “Broad Spectrum Hemp CBD Tincture.” Another was for labeling more than 1,500 units of a product with “non-detectable to trace amounts of THC” and 30.6 to 33.4 mg/ML of CBD as “THC Drops” with 1,035 mg of THC and 16.14 mg of CBD.
- Eleven Eleven, a cannabis cultivator, will pay a $2,750 fine or serve an 11-day license suspension. OLCC states it had conducted a harvest inspection and found that some workers who were harvesting product did not have “valid marijuana worker permit[s], or pending applications and successful worker permit tests.”
- Village Green, a cannabis cultivator, will pay a $24,500 fine, or pay a $10,500 fine and serve a 56-day suspension, for violations including exceeding its canopy limit; failing to produce a harvest notification; not having worker permits for two workers; and not complying with inventory tracking requirements, including in weighing and tagging, per OLCC.
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