Oregon officials have met up for their very first meeting this week of the Task Force on Cannabis-Derived Intoxicants and Illegal Cannabis Production.
The goal of the task force is to improve Oregon’s cannabis and hemp markets while keeping the public and environment safe and illegal growers held accountable.
During the meeting, which took place over Microsoft Teams, the Oregon State Police, local cannabis and hemp growers, agriculture scientists, state representatives and more voiced their concerns about illegal marijuana operations in Oregon.
Representative Pam Marsh was elected Chair and Representative Lily Morgan was elected Co-Chair.
“This started as a conversation of my sheriff calling me saying, ‘I need help,'” said Morgan. “We need to see how to support the hemp industry… as we’re moving forward and seeing what needs to be regulated and what regulations we need to dial back a little bit.”
Police say illegal marijuana is a significant problem in southern Oregon. Sergeant Tyler Bechtel with OSP shared his concerns during Thursday’s task force meeting.
“There is a massive problem in southern Oregon,” he said. “Ethnic-based drug trafficking organizations are prevalent all over Oregon and there’s a labor trafficking component in all of those that’s a hard thing to prove and not something we’ve been successful in prosecuting to this point.”
Other issues discussed during the meeting included labor trafficking, water and environmental impacts, cross pollinization and protecting legal growers and operations.
“I think we have the right people at the table and there are many big topics that we’re taking on and they are integral to both the welfare and viability of our local communities…” Marsh said. “I think that is very much a top line concern for all of us as we start this conversation.”
At the end of the meeting, Marsh announced her plans to split the group into subcommittees to divide and conquer the issues at hand. The next meeting will be held May 31.
