Perfecting the Recipe

Since the legalization of cannabis, Oregonians have been anticipating the day when they can simply walk into a dispensary and buy a quarter-ounce of cannabis. That day is October 1, finally here (October 1), for those looking to buy flower. Purchasing edible products, however, will be delayed at least another year. Although there are already hundreds of “medibles” on the market available to medical cannabis cardholders, these will continue to be sold only to patients, inside medical packaging. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission is responsible for licensing those that will make, test, and sell legal cannabis in Oregon. With edibles being such a potent way to use cannabis, regulating these products, along with concentrates, can be a very complex undertaking.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, or the OLCC, relies on the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to find and determine what levels of concentrates are allowed in edibles. The OHA has been putting together a panel of experts to determine exactly what types of regulations need to be put into place before the OLCC can begin licensing manufacturers. They plan to regulate the dosage of edible products, along with their potency. The OHA will answer questions about mandatory serving size, and how many servings one package is allowed to contain. They are not satisfied with the standard 10mg serving size allowed in Colorado. There isn’t enough conclusive scientific evidence yet, and they want more information.

Packaging is also a major priority for the Oregon Health Authority, and edible manufacturers will have to focus on packaging that is simple and straightforward with no pictures or cartoons that might suggest that it may be a product for children. Packaging will also need to be opaque and child resistant. Labels will need to contain certain pertinent information for potential buyers. But before anyone worries about edibles and their packaging, there are other important hurdles to jump first.

Actual retail cannabis stores won’t be receiving licenses to open their doors until October, 2016. For now, the OLCC is working on licensing the base of the supply chain: The growers. Without product, establishments cannot begin business, so growers will need to be licensed and supplying flower products before establishments can open.

We spoke with Mark Pettinger at the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, who explained the licensing process and their plan of action now that license requests are starting to roll in. He told CULTURE, “It’s important that people understand that with this being a newly regulated supply chain, we’re going with the first link in that chain.” The first link would be the growers, and then those that process and sell the cannabis will need licensing as well before recreational sale is in full swing. Growers also supply the product needed for making concentrates, which are infused into most edibles. And all this needs to happen before the makers of edibles can even begin hoping to get licensed.

Once the OHA comes up with the guidelines for testing edibles, labs will also need to get licensed to begin. The OLCC will ultimately certify the labs that do the testing and can grant a license to edible manufacturers based on their lab results. They will also have to get their packaging approved before the product is allowed to go to market. With many potential mistakes to be made in the process, the OLCC and the OHA both want all the groundwork to be done upfront, without having to go back and correct mistakes like Washington and Colorado. Oregon becoming a state where cannabis is legal and regulated is going to be a long process, but one that is well worth the wait.