A total of eight marijuana growers in Oregon have been given licenses by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. The agency has the responsibility to oversee Oregon's recreational marijuana market.
The OLCC chair, Rob Patridge, said the licenses reflect the pioneering spirit of Oregon. Patridge added that these cannabis growers came from different backgrounds and possess different entrepreneurial spirit of the industry as per OPB.
The OLCC has granted licenses to growers in Lane, Washington, Tillamook, Jackson, Clackamas and Josephine countries with a variety of mix medium and large scale indoor and outdoor cultivation growers. The agency said these growers can start their operations the moment they pay their annual licensing fee.
Mark Pettinger, the spokesperson of the OLCC said that the agency's main agenda is to approve growers first in order for them to establish the supply chain before they can approve the dispensing. The dispensing license though will be approved by October this year.
According to KDRV, dispensaries under the Oregon Health Authority's medical marijuana program can make sales to persons 21 years old and older. The provision though will expire at the end of this year. The agency has already scheduled to approve several more for the coming weeks. The agency expects to approve 850 applications by the end of the year.
As reported by the Statesman Journal, among the first licensed marijuana flower or bud producers is Terra Master, a Clackamas County company which is partly owned by Antonio Harvey, a radio analyst for the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA. Harvey said in an interview that his company is on the leading edge of Legal Cannabis in the state of Oregon.
The OLCC has already received more than 900 applications for licenses in the recreational marijuana industry. The agency will assume full control of the state's regulation of the recreational marijuana industry by the end of the year. OLCC has already noted 300 dispensaries that are participating in the early sales of recreational marijuana in Oregon.
