Marijuana Business Magazine July 2019

Marijuana Business Magazine | July 2019 40 Oklahoma The state health department will begin inspecting manufacturers and dispensaries that produce or sell food and beverage products infused with CBD and medical marijuana. Those businesses are required to have food licenses, and the grace period for getting them has passed. The state will inspect flavored tinctures or oils, baked goods and candies and infused products such as honey and bottled water. Oregon Lawmakers have given the Oregon Liquor Control Commission more leeway to deny new cultivation licenses based on supply and demand. Gov. Kate Brown signed a bill aimed not just at reducing the state’s huge cannabis surplus but also at preventing diversion of unsold legal marijuana into the black market and forestalling a crackdown by federal prosecutors. “The harsh reality is we have too much product on the market,” Brown said. Rhode Island The state department of health declined to make opioid dependency a qualifying condition for the medical marijuana program. The state’s health director wrote in a decision that any debilitating disease, medical condition or treatment that causes chronic pain already qualifies under the program, so it is unnecessary to add opioid-use disorder (OUD). The decision also cited a lack of research demonstrating that marijuana effectively treats OUD; the department will revisit the decision in a year or two to see if new research is available. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a measure into law that increases the number of qualifying patient conditions for medical cannabis use. Previously, Texas allowed the sale of medical cannabis only to people with intractable epilepsy. The new measure adds all forms of epilepsy, seizure disorders, autism, terminal cancer, Parkinson’s and other conditions to the state’s list of qualifying MMJ conditions. The legislation retains a 0.5% cap on THC content. Utah The state plans to charge a $10,000 application fee to become one of 10 approved medical marijuana growers and an additional $100,000 annual licensing fee for cultivators that are chosen, according to draft rules for Utah’s new medical marijuana program. State officials said the license fees are meant to offset the expense of adding personnel and equipment to inspect the growing facilities. Industry Developments | United States