New Laws & Effective Dates & Opt-out
A lot of Oregonians have questions about what happens when with the new laws. We have listed five dates below that will affect patients. We have also listed the local city and county opt-out provisions
Stay tuned for a detailed analysis coming soon!
Effective dates:
With effective and operative dates throughout the four main bills, it is hard to keep it all straight but a brief synopsis of dates is outlined below.
House Bills 3400 and Senate Bills 460 and 844 have emergency clauses and take effect upon passage. House Bill 2041 takes effect 91 days after session ends.
October 1, 2015: SB 460 allows retail sales through medical dispensaries. This law sunsets December 31, 2016 but local jurisdictions may prohibit retail sales.
October 10, 2015: HB 2041 relating to taxes takes effect. (91 days after 2015 sine die)
November 1, 2015: the Research Certification program takes effect.
January 1, 2016: Most of HB 3400 takes effect including expungement of criminal records under SB 844.
March 1, 2016: Most modifications to OMMP take effect including added conditions, home health caregivers and transplant rules. Plant limits grandfathered in must have been in place on or before December 31, 2014.
Local Opt-out provisions
Cities and counties were again allowed to continue to ban any and all licensed cannabis businesses including dispensaries and the new OMMP processors. While the statute is complicated in its formulation of this policy, the nuts and bolts of it are as follows:
If a local jurisdiction defeated Measure 91 by more than five points (received less than 45% of the votes cast), they may adopt an ordinance banning all things cannabis except for medical grows without referring it to the voters of that jurisdiction. If the Measure passed or received 45% or more of the votes cast and a local jurisdiction adopts an ordinance, that ordinance must be placed on the ballot for a vote of the people at the next general election. The local jurisdiction must provide the OHA and/or the OLCC the proposed language and the agency(s) must suspend all licensing activities until the vote determines the outcome. Local jurisdictions have 180 to do so. (Sometime January 2016).