It’s much worse than that. The ruling effectively makes it illegal to ship CBD oil or hemp products in interstate commerce. So if it was legal where it was grown, it cannot be sold outside that State. Taking it across Statelines, even to another State where hemp derivatives are legal, will expose you to prosecution.
And remember that even within a legal State, you are still only protected by the latest version of the Cole Memorandum prohibiting the Department of Justice from expending funds to prosecute you. That doesn’t prevent the DEA from seizing and destroying your crop since no funds are being spent to criminally prosecute you.
True on the state trade. Hemp, and rec. flow was way over produced in our state and there are tons and tons of dried CBD flower going unsold. I don’t see that getting any better next year without being able to move across state lines.
I actually haven’t been too worried about the federal government and the DEA. Our Oregon state legislators and federal level prosecuting attorney seem to have our back. I am not sure how the sentiment runs in other states.
I concur in Hawaii. Pakalolo, the local name for cannabis, has been culturally accepted here for decades. Ditch weed from escaped seed is common in some areas.
Prosecution used to be limited to only people attempting to profit from the plant. Now with commercial grows and licensed dispensaries opening, it’s becoming a dead issue.
The remaining problem is the TSA. Traveling between islands with cannabis even with a licensed grower or user card causes federal alarm bells to go off, confiscation and a referral to the local police who are unable to do anything other than saying “Sorry” for the feds seizing your product.
This is particularly bothersome when there is no testing facility on your island and samples must be moved to an island where there is a facility.
Everything gets better when cannabis is legal. It takes profits away from criminal elements, decreases opiate abuse, generates state revenue (helps all taxpayers), deceases DUIs, and more!
This is a shame, albeit not unexpected. Until cannabis is outright removed from the controlled substances act, it’s very likely that courts will continue to rule in this fashion.
Just the sad truth of the legal system is that it doesn’t have to correspond with scientific reality or the real world, really.
One of my seed company clients was in negotiation with an organic grower in Oregon looking to buy or merge their operations. But when the price dropped so quickly and the extreme excess capacity became public, they shelved the deal.
This is ridiculous since the price to the public remains high due to the multiple levels of taxation that State and local authorities are imposing. Therefore, the Grey or Black market continues to thrive on that price differential.
I was shown a chart of licensing requirements for California and how taxes were imposed and it was crazy. Localities are even charging warehouse grows by the square foot before a single pot is planted. Now power companies are proposing a special power consumption tax on cannabis which would only be avoided if the grower switched to lighting during dark hours rather than day time when industrial demand is high. Of course that means that we need to further mechanize our grows or pay more for labor working third shift from midnight to 8:00am.
Oregon also over produced by 3x consumption on the rec market. Oregon has a free market on cannabis, it crippled the black market.
I’ve got my cost down to $20/lb, less if yield boosts this year with more immediate fertilization. I know where my product belongs, bulk wholesale to hash processors. I have 0 overhead for testing, transportation, and marketing, and less than $200 for packaging.
Wow! Anything under $100/lb production cost is fabulous. But this again is the basis of the argument that a free market requires barrier free movement from State to State in order to stabilize supply and demand. Just imagine the cost of potatoes in Idaho vs Florida if you could only sell them in the State that they are grown in.
This patchwork quilt of rules and regulations being involuntarily enforced by the DEA is profitable for the taxing authorities and a detriment to the market. Legalizing or at least decriminalizing cannabis production, sale and use is the only thing that will stabilize things and put all growers on the same level playing field.
If only… My only customer is in Nevada and California now too. I was told nobody in Neveda knows how to grow. What I produce is going for $1200/lb, but I only get $100/lb in Oregon…
Having lived in Las Vegas for almost a decade, I immediately thought of the Indian reservation property on the edge of Downtown as a perfect place for Cannabis production.
Apparently I was right since some of the highest tech greenhouses that I have ever seen are being erected under license on the reservation.
For decades the Piautes undersold the tobacco market since they didn’t pay any federal or state taxes. I wonder if they will vertically integrate with their cannabis and become the low cost seller even if their production costs may be high due to HVAC considerations. If so, free college for all their children!
Yes!
Nevada can’t do outdoor, but the reservations can. My processor can’t wait for them to come online.