LIVE NOW: New Potency Limits for Oregon Edibles
What Happened?
On April 1, 2022, new potency limitations went live in Oregon’s adult-use cannabis market. Previously, on December 28, 2021, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) approved these new higher potency limits for marijuana edible products sold in the state.
Specifically, retail licensees may now sell edible products containing 100mg THC per package and 10mg THC per serving, up from the previous limits of 50mg THC and 5mg THC, respectively. This is far from the only change for the Oregon cannabis market: the state recently enacted limit increases pertaining to other products in the state—for example, the amount of usable marijuana that can be sold to a customer was recently increased from one ounce to two. THC limits for transdermal patches and cannabinoid extracts and concentrates have also recently increased.
What Are the Details?
Any product that contains more than 55mg THC per package (regardless of THC content per individual piece) must be scored so that a consumer can easily identify a 10mg THC portion size. For example, a 100mg THC chocolate bar can be scored into 10 individual 10mg THC servings.
There is a small exemption to this scoring requirement for products that by their nature cannot be scored—like honey or powder—but regulators have indicated that they will view this category narrowly.
Why Is It Important?
Oregon licensees may now start producing and selling edible products containing 100mg THC per package and 10mg THC per serving. The OLCC has already approved labels for 30 products with 100mg THC per package, and that number is sure to grow in this significant and competitive product category.
More broadly, this rule change demonstrates an important trend in the “national” cannabis industry that remains fragmented by state: the continued evolution of rules and standards.
While cross-state variation will continue to exist in markets for the foreseeable future—and savvy operators must plan around these distinctions as they scale and grow—the convergence of rules and adoption of best practices from sister markets is a trend we have long highlighted. As the OLCC itself notes, this rule change “aligns [Oregon] with the potency allowances of most other states allowing the sale of adult-use cannabis.” Given this continued evolution of these foundational rules for the cannabis industry, it remains essential to have a plan not only for where rules are today but also where they are anticipated to be in the short, medium, and long-terms.
In the rapidly developing multi-jurisdictional adult use cannabis market, where innovation and compliance are essential to remaining competitive, having advisors like MadisonJay Solutions who are familiar with the regulatory landscape across the country can be the difference between success and failure.