Some marijuana grow sites subject to reduced inspection notice

PORTLAND, Ore. – Officials will be inspecting medical marijuana grow sites claiming to be exempt from the Cannabis Tracking System.

The Cannabis Tracking System, or CTS, was put in place to monitor small-scale growers producing for three or more patients. There are about 800 medical marijuana grow sites that have recently reported reducing the number of patients to below that threshold. Because the number of grows is significantly lower than expected, inspectors from the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program will be visiting random grow sites throughout the month of August to ensure they’re in compliance.

To expedite the process, the OMMP’s Compliance Unit is reducing the amount of time grow sites are notified in advance of the inspection. According to the Oregon Health Authority, grow sites are normally given a 10-day notice of an upcoming inspection via letter, followed by a phone call 24 to 30 hours before the site visit. For these specific inspections, Compliance Unit staff will call grow sites the day before the inspection and will not be sending a 10-day notice.

Failure to cooperate with an inspection can result in civil penalties of up to $500 per-day. Failure to respond to inspectors can result in other consequences as well.

For more information, visit the medical marijuana program’s webpage at http://www.healthoregon.org/ommp