Growing pains: how Oregon wound up with way more pot than it can smoke
“Every agricultural crop has its highs and its lows,” she said. “No pun intended.”
And because US federal law still prohibits cannabis, Oregon growers cannot legally sell outside the state’s borders … Tristan Reisfar works part-time for a company, High Desert Pure, that produces vapor cartridges and said he fields phone calls from desperate growers offering to sell their marijuana for as little as $100 per lb. When Oregon launched its recreational marijuana program, it was common for growers to count on bringing in $2,400 per lb. “We’re coming into another growing season here, what are they going to do then?” Reisfar asked. Willison, the co-owner of Eugenius LLC, said he still has “a couple hundred lb of product in our vault”. He has pared down his operation from 16 employees to seven. Three-quarters of the farm has been switched from cannabis to hemp seed. Hemp is a related plant that doesn’t offer the same high as cannabis, but has a variety of uses including fabric and medicine. He plans to keep growing marijuana to maintain his brand until the market rebounds. In the meantime, he estimates that the marijuana portion of his business is losing between $5,000 and $10,000 a month. “This glut’s going to take a few years. There is really no short-term answer,” Willison said.
Original Article (The Guardian):
Growing pains: how Oregon wound up with way more pot than it can smoke
Artwork Fair Use by: H. Zell
