Oregon: Marijuana Sales Begin Earlier Than Expected

Oregon’s Governor Kate Brown (Democrat) signed Senate Bill 460 into law which permits the sale of recreational marijuana in existing medical marijuana dispensaries beginning October 1, 2015 – almost one year earlier than expected. Residents will not be able to purchase edibles or oils, only dried marijuana.

The governor’s spokeswoman, Kristen Grainger, said “Oregon’s new recreational marijuana law went into effect in July 2015, but Oregonians couldn’t lawfully buy it anywhere for another year or more. If marijuana is legal to use, it shouldn’t be illegal to buy.”

Later on this year, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission will issue licenses to medical marijuana retailers which allow them to sell marijuana for recreational uses. The dispensaries will be allowed to sell up to one ounce per transaction.

Three month TAX FREE holiday

Oregon residents over the age of 21 can purchase medical marijuana products tax-free until January 4, 2016. The state will implement a 25% state tax on January 4th.  

Are any public companies levered to this market?

Kaya Holdings, Inc. (KAYS) is the first fully reporting publicly traded company in the United States to own a legal marijuana dispensary. Kaya is opening its second medical marijuana dispensary in Portland, Oregon and the company operates through its subsidiary, Marijuana Holdings Americas, Inc., which owns and operates Kaya Shack and Kaya Farms Grow operations. Kaya is focused on branding its medical marijuana products and the company produces a variety of other products such as flower, concentrates, and cannabis-infused edibles and candies.

In late June, Kaya’s license application for its second Kaya Shack medical marijuana dispensary was approved. The location will be three times the size of the first dispensary and the company expects the dispensary to be open in time for the commencement of Oregon’s recreational marijuana market. 

Craig Frank, CEO of KAYS said, “This second license, which we applied for earlier this month, permits the Company to open a Kaya Shack Marijuana Superstore with unique features and a wider selection of product. “We are dedicated to growing the Kaya Shack brand and this new store is our next step. Last week we acquired Grow assets to increase our production capacity and product offering. This week we received our license to operate our second store.”

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Michael Berger is Managing Partner of StoneBridge Partners, LLC and Founder of Technical420.com. Prior to entering the cannabis industry, Michael was an Equity Research Analyst at Raymond James Financial covering the Energy Sector. Michael has been featured in publications such as The Street, Bloomberg, US Money News, and hosts various cannabis events across North America.

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