Ask any patient or medical cannabis grower in Oregon, and they will agree – navigating the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) is a bugaboo. Now, the governing body over OMMP, Oregon Health Authority (OHA), has notified all medical growers in the state of impending changes in compliance and reporting, including increased fees (and migraines).

Anthony Johnson breaks down the new rules:

Some important things to pay attention to. First of all, as the latest OHA update makes clear, the $480 CTS fee is NOT due by December 1st. The state needs time to set up the system for all of the OMMP cardholders first. Tentatively, OHA has stated that OMMP participants will need to sign up with CTS and pay the fee by July 1, 2018. The fee is a yearly fee and should be pro-rated, so it shouldn’t cost a full $480 to comply with the requirement for the rest of your licensed year.

Also, if you wish to remain a patient, you can still grow more than 12 plants at your qualified residence, so long as you, or your caregiver, are NOT registered as the grower for your grow site at your home. I explained how patients can properly set up their grow site to continue to cultivate more than 12 total mature plants in a previous blog. It can be costly changing around OMMP paperwork, but thankfully, the state is waiving change and grow site fees for qualified growers until the first of the year.

Finally, and most importantly, none of the rules and regulations that are imposing unnecessary burdens on growers, mom-and-pop businesses and patients, are set in stone. We have the opportunity to change laws and amend rules in the coming months and years. State Senator Floyd Prozanski, the strongest ally of the medical cannabis community, will be taking questions at the upcoming Oregon Marijuana Business Conference in Ashland on November 19th.

For good or for ill, fighting for good cannabis policies is nothing new for the Oregon activist community. While it is frustrating to see the continued effort to backslide on progress, we should never forget the fight for social justice and equitable business practices will always remain ongoing.

If you are in the Oregon cannabis industry, or are thinking of joining, the Oregon Marijuana Business Conference is a must-attend event this November 19th. Network with other professionals and activists to take your business to the next level and work to protect and improve Oregon’s cannabis laws.