October 1: Temporary Emergency Rulemaking

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has announced that it will engage in temporary emergency rulemaking this week to address two key issues which may affect current medical marijuana businesses preparing for October 1, 2016.

1. Pending OHA Processor Registrations

The OHA has confirmed that it intends to adopt a temporary emergency rule that would allow applicants who have applied for a medical marijuana processor registration to continue operating without interruption under a pending registration status.  The expectation is that OHA dispensaries will be able to accept products from processors that are included on the list of Pending Processor Applications.  Under current rules, processors are required to complete their registration on or before October 1, which involves an OHA readiness inspection.  However, with less than a month until October 1, no processors have yet completed a full registration.

In order to get on the list of Pending Processor Applications, a processor must submit a “complete” application to the OHA.  If the OHA has deemed a processor application “complete,” it will place the applicant on the list. Beginning October 1, OHA dispensaries must only accept edibles, concentrates, and extracts from processors on the list.

In a previous blog post we summarized the processor registration requirements.  The OHA reviews applications for completeness once per week, in the order they are received. To avoid any business interruption, processors should still submit their applications as soon as possible.

2. Extended Deadline for Dispensary ODA Certification

OHA also announced that it intends to push back the date by which registered dispensaries must have a food establishment license from the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA), from October 1, 2016 to January 1, 2017.  Stay tuned for an upcoming blog post on working with ODA.  Also, in case you missed it, we posted our Top 5 tips for Oregon dispensaries gearing up for October 1.

We will also continue to publish blog posts to update you on key issues and changes affecting Oregon’s marijuana industry.