New medical marijuana tracking system rolling out
New regulations will take effect this summer for Oregon’s medical marijuana growers.
Come July 1, all medical marijuana growers with three or more patients will have to be registered with both the Oregon Liquor Control Commission and the Oregon Health Authority.
The new system enables the OHA to track grows in the medical field the same way the OLCC tracks recreational grows.
Oregon Senate Bill 1544 requires all Oregon medical marijuana program growers to be registered.
Carol Yann, section manager for OHA, said Tuesday they will now be able to keep better tabs on the grows all around the state.
“It definitely will assist, yes. Being able to track it from seed through sale is a whole different level then what we’ve had,” Yann said. “So yes, I think it will definitely help.”
Yann also commented on the request by Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson and District Attorney John Hummel. asking her office for a list of all registered medical marijuana grow sites in the county.
She said the OHA is patient-driven, so they work to keep that information confidential.
Right now, a decision on that request is in the hands of Oregon’s attorney general, and according to that office, they are still working on an official opinion.
The OLCC already has a tracking system in place for recreational grows, and now they are going to be using a system that is similar for the medical marijuana grows.
OLCC spokesman Mark Pettinger said the tracking system is very similar to the way produce is tracked in a grocery store, so they can recall items for any number of reasons.
“A retailer is able to help a producer track that back,” Pettinger said. “This system works in the same way, so we can essentially trace and track any kind of package that is in the system the same way.”
The system will assign a number and a bar code to each seed, and that will allow for the plant to be tracked from the beginning to its sale.
Pettinger said that by tracking both the recreational and medical marijuana grows, they are able to allow for law enforcement to keep track of illegal grows.
“The expectation is we will be able to detect illegal activity,” Pettinger said. “And then those illegal grows are just taking place on their own. That will enable law enforcement to focus on those, keeping that cannabis that is produced illegally out of the illegal market.”
Along with the tracking system, the new registration program will enable inspectors to go out to grow sites, making sure they are in compliance with OHA standards.
