Dear Oregon Legislators,

We, the undersigned, call upon you to pass a bill in the 2019 session allowing the executive branch to approve licensed, interstate cannabis transfers.

Such legislation would not in itself allow interstate transfers, but it is a necessary first step toward a sensible and market-based solution to the multiple interlocking crises enveloping the Oregon cannabis industry.

1. Interstate export would strongly incentivize licensure and would meaningfully reduce the amount of Oregon cannabis entering the illicit market. Crime and criminal activity would decrease significantly.

2. The local portion of the tax revenues from interstate exports, potentially many times larger than in-state sales, can and should support revenue-strapped producer counties

3. Interstate export would immediately end Oregon’s oversupply problem and stabilize prices. It would save hundreds of local businesses and family farms that are currently at risk of collapse, preserving hundreds of millions of dollars in local capital, and thousands of jobs.

Oregon is a world class cannabis producer with unmatched terroir, a strong regulatory and testing framework, and a deep knowledge base. We are and have always been an exporting state -- there is great demand for our products across the country.

The bounty of our cannabis and the market distortion of prohibition have combined to bring the Oregon industry to crisis on several fronts, and the best way through is out. We must be prepared to take leadership as soon as the opportunity presents itself to export, and we call on the legislature to clear that path by giving the executive branch the authority to act in its best judgment.

Sincerely and in a spirit of mutual benefit,