On Saturday, Oregon started selling recreational marijuana in retailer stores approved by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC).

Oregonians can now shop recreational marijuana in 26 different retailer stores across the state. In 2014, voters approved the selling of recreational pot in the state trough a ballot, almost fifteen years after medical marijuana was approved. The OLCC announced on Friday that it had given twenty-six different licenses to retailers across the state. In order to start selling the recreational drug in their stores,  the retailers will need to adapt to a new set of approved rules delivered by the Commission.

In the last ten months the prices have dropped to $1,400 and $1,600 which gives consumers the opportunity to obtain marijuana in a legal and cheaper way. Photo credit: Getty / The Huffington Post
In the last ten months the prices have dropped to $1,400 and $1,600 which gives consumers the opportunity to obtain marijuana in a legal and cheaper way. Photo credit: Getty / The Huffington Post

According to the OLCC’s announcement retailers can already start selling recreational pot, Steven Marks, who works as the executive director of the commission announced that twelve stores could start operating on Saturday.

Starting business 

Oregon jumps on the same recreational weed train that Colorado, Alaska, and Washington have been on for the past years, even though medical marijuana had already been selling in the state since 1998. The OLCC had previously announced October as the tempting date to start the new business.

Since October 2015 and before the approved licenses for retailers, Oregonians could buy recreational marijuana at medical pot stores, but these stores won’t be allowed to sell the recreational drug after the year ends.

The OLCC also announced it had given a dozen of licenses to recreational weed producers, to meet the demand in the state. As well as ten new testing laboratories. However, a new set of guidelines has been implemented by the Commission to meet new standards.

The new set of standards had created a setback for testing laboratories and according to the commission’s chief it almost drove the OLCC to the point of collapse due to overwhelming requirements.

Oregon’s Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (ORELAP), had been overburdened over the amount of requirements needed to provide accreditation to local labs Since the new set of standards requires both producers and labs to be accredited and show the testing result’s in the product’s package.

The OLCC is currently focusing on keeping the pot’s package neutral, so children don’t find it attractive, as well as the name and labels used to sell the recreational drug.  In Colorado, authorities have had issues with kids grabbing and consuming pot candy due to the packages.

Recreational marijuana stores will open near Oregon’s Portland area, in western Oregon and the southern central part of the state.

Source: Fox News