The third draft of the rules for Oregon medical cannabis dispensaries were made public Wednesday. Here is my open letter to the Oregon Medical Marijuana Dispensary Rules Advisory Committee. You can find out about this process and how to contact them here. I encourage Oregonians to contact the committee with your thoughts and ideas for these rules. You can have an impact; you can make a difference!

“I write today as a registered caregiver in the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) and a concerned stakeholder for the new rules being established for medical cannabis dispensaries. I have read the third draft of the rules, and I am thankful to the committee for their hard work. While this letter contains my personal views, I believe it is important to note that I shared my thoughts at a recent meeting of about thirty OMMP cardholders; they echo my sentiments.

The rules draft makes it clear that dispensaries will need to have their cannabis tested. I agree that this is incredibly important. I think that this is one of the greatest benefits that regulation accomplishes. I would like to see the rules specify that the testing be done by an un-involved third-party laboratory. Labs set up specifically to test cannabis require special equipment and uniquely trained employees, technicians and chemists to ensure accurate and non-biased results, for an extra level of accountability and security. I think that allowing dispensaries to do their own testing creates a conflict of interest and too many opportunities for record tampering and misrepresentation to the OMMP registrants they serve. I hope that the committee will keep this in mind and change the rules to make third-party testing the only option for all dispensaries.

Another concern I have involves the 1,000 foot rule. I understand the reasoning being creating the rule with regards to schools, and I agree with that part. I would like to see that be the only limitation of this nature. I think that it is important to give prospective dispensaries the opportunity to work together by allowing them to share space and create collectives and co-ops that provide a larger selection. If this cannot be accomplished, I would like to see an exception to that rule to allow dispensaries to operate side-by-side for events, trade shows and farmers markets. For patients with limited mobility, the opportunity to explore more than one option in one place is valuable to our community.

Lastly, I would like to see the rules make accommodation for dispensaries to provide a space in their facilities for patients to medicate, and have the opportunity to try the medicine to make sure it helps their condition. With no “official” research and only anecdotal evidence, we have learned that even the same strain of cannabis can have different effects on the end-user. Having the opportunity to sample the medicine is vital.

I appreciate your time and consideration, as well as the opportunity to comment.

Sincerely,

Anna Diaz

OMMP Caregiver”