By Steve Elliott
Hemp News
Marijuana stores will be prohibited from allowing on site consumption, and wouldn't be allowed to sell both recreational and medical marijuana under preliminary regulations approved Thursday by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.
More than 70 pages of rules were approved to govern Oregon's retail marijuana system once it is fully operational next year, reports Jonathan J. Cooper of the Associated Press. While medical marijuana dispensaries were allowed to begin selling to recreational customers 21 and older on October 1, they can do so only until January 1.
By 2017, all companies producing or selling recreational cannabis will be required to follow the OLCC's rules for health, safety, and security. The rules must be in place for Oregon to start accepting applications in January for licenses to operate marijuana businesses.
The rules will limit the size of growing operations to 10,000 square feet indoors, and 40,000 square feet outdoors. The rules are an attempt to control the amount of cannabis entering the legal market. "It's a really tough issue, and I don't think we have the data at this point," said OLCC Chairman Rob Partridge.
The OLCC also bans on site use of marijuana in stores. Employees with medical authorizations can do so in private, along and out of view, but they can't be "intoxicated," whatever that means.
