Deschutes marijuana businesses still waiting for rules
Last fall, Oregrown in Bend bought a farm in Tumalo to grow marijuana. And they’re still waiting to get going.
“It’s very frustrating,” said Hunter Neubauer, co-owner of Oregrown, said Friday.
Last December, Deschutes County commissioners temporarily “opted out” of allowing cannabis production in rural areas, amid intense debate between businesses and rural residents, while a citizen panel reviewed proposed rules.
“We were shocked,” Neubauer said. “We didn’t think they’d opt out.”
Suddenly, Oregrown had to stop what they were doing, and construction came to a halt. The facility in Tumalo has been sitting empty ever since.
“It’s really hard, as a business. I’ve put every penny I’ve ever made in my past career into this,” Neubauer said.
Oregrown has plenty of ideas for their farm. Next to marijuana, they’re planning on growing lavender and produce.
They’re also developing their own cannabis patches, which people simply apply on their body, and it dispenses cannabis in timed-release fashion.
But so far, they haven’t been able to do anything with the farm, because they’re still waiting on a producer license.
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has started rolling out those licenses across the state — but not in Deschutes County, since the county had opted out.
“It’s very frustrating to see the rest of the state getting licenses when we could have already been there,” Neubauer said.
Although the county decided to opt back in earlier this month, the commissioners are still hashing out the details.
“It’s sad to me that it’s taken this long,” Neubauer said. “We (Oregonians) have voted on it a long time ago.”
Earlier this month, after sharply split public testimony, commissioners decided to adopt rules for marijuana production and not send the ban to the November ballot, as some other counties have done.
The board is scheduled to meet next Wednesday to continue to review the details of related land-use ordinances, to be followed by first and second readings in subsequent weeks. At this rate, unless commissioners adopt an emergency clause, it looks like the marijuana business rules won’t go into effect until late September.
