Oregon Marijuana Prices
Experts have predicted that marijuana prices in Oregon are likely to see some dramatic increases in 2016, a news station in Bend, Oregon reports. The increases are expected to occur as a result of new and stricter pesticide regulations.
Pesticides have been a major topic of discussion throughout the cannabis industry this year, and efforts have been made to ensure that potentially dangerous pesticides aren’t used in cannabis crops that are grown for legal dispensaries.
“It’s been interesting to watch, but also a little bit confusing,” Ellen Parkin, a lab director at CannAlytics, said about the ever-changing regulations cannabis growers have faced recently.
“I’m just hoping we can just finalize this so that I actually know what I need to do for my lab to be up to snuff.”
Recently, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) released a list of 59 pesticides that it will no longer allow cannabis growers to use.
“We think it’s important, because pesticides can be toxic,” said David Farrer, a public health toxicologist who works for OHA.
“There are a lot of things we don’t know right now about how much pesticide exposure would come from the use of cannabis.”
The OHA has said that new pesticide laws and regulations could go into effect as early as January.
And as growers and analysts make adjustments to comply with the new regulations, market analysts say pot users can expect the prices of both medicinal and recreational cannabis to rise.
To screen for the new list of illegal pesticides, pot labs will likely have to invest in entirely new equipment, which can quickly become expensive.
“Half-a-million-dollars worth of equipment—that’s a lot of money,” Parkin said.
On top of getting new equipment, the actual lab tests required under the stricter laws will also be more expensive to perform.
“Right now, compliance package testing in the state of Oregon are typically in the $100 to $175 range (per testing sample),” said Carlos Cummings, vice president at CannAlytics.
After the new laws go into effect, he predicts the cost of testing weed samples will see “probably close to a 50 percent to 100 percent markup across the state.”
Experts predict that all of these increased production costs will ultimately be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices across the market.