The state’s cannabis testing requirements for the fungus aspergillus have been suspended after the Oregon Court of Appeals granted a motion to stay the rules pending a legal challenge filed by the cannabis industry.
The August 25 ruling comes just one month after the state’s largest cannabis trade association, the Cannabis Industry Alliance of Oregon, alongside three small weed companies, asked the Court of Appeals to halt the ban on aspergillus, arguing it could destroy cannabis businesses.
“The court has considered the irreparable harm to petitioners in the absence of a stay, petitioners’ likelihood of success on the merits, and the risk of harm to the public if a stay is granted and, in light of those considerations, concludes that a stay of enforcement of the Aspergillus Testing Rule is appropriate in this case,” the Court of Appeals wrote in its decision. The ruling means the case will move forward, and the aspergillus rules cannot be enforced until the case is settled.
Kevin Jacoby, the lawyer representing the cannabis businesses, tells WW it’s likely the state will launch a new rulemaking to set similar requirements that aren’t subject to the stay. “Oftentimes they see the writing on the wall and will rather quickly move to rulemaking that will change the rule,” Jacoby says. “Once they change the rule, that would moot the judicial review proceeding regarding the validity of the rule. But new rulemaking would likely take six to eight months.”
Read more at wweek.com