A task force studying energy and water use associated with marijuana production is likely to recommend that the state do more to educate growers about existing agricultural rules and practices, as well as back a certification process that encourages Oregon's new industry to pay closer attention how it uses natural resources.

The task force, made up of growers, agency representatives and lawmakers, is set to make recommendations to the Legislature later this summer.

Rep. Ann Lininger, D-Lake Oswego, suggested Wednesday that the panel won't propose "top down" requirements but instead will offer recommendations on the "light touch" end of the spectrum.

The recreational sale of pot edibles has been legal for nearly a week now. NewsChannel 21's Dani Fried visited a Bend marijuana shop to see how sales have been going, and get a guided tour of its cannabis edibles and extracts.

Officials at Oregrown said their sales have gone up significantly since edibles became legal last Thursday.

Meanwhile, Bloom Well Dispensary in Bend said their sales have gone up significantly, with a shift in their sales from the marijuana flower to edibles.

Aviv Hadar, co-owner, of Oregrown in Bend, partners with many local companies to sell the products that have now been legalized.

County bans on licensed recreational marijuana businesses may result in millions of dollars of lost economic activity, according to one analyst.

Marion County alone could lose $110 million in economic activity this year as business goes elsewhere because of its ban, said Beau Whitney, an economist and vice president of government and compliance at Toronto-based Golden Leaf Holdings.

Nineteen Oregon counties and 86 Oregon cities have banned marijuana producers, processors, wholesalers and retailers.

Brownies, cookies, soft drinks - all infused with cannabis - are for sale legally in Oregon for anyone over 21 years old.

It's been a long wait for dispensaries, which sped up three weeks ago when Governor Brown declared edibles would go on sale starting June 2. There are 426 approved dispensaries in Oregon that can now sell the products.

At Oregon's Finest dispensary in Northeast Portland, employees raced the clock to get inventory unboxed and into their computer system in time for the first sale.

Marijuana edibles will be legally available to buy in medical marijuana dispensaries in Oregon Thursday, June 2.

Those products can contain up to 15 mg of THC and adults over 21 can buy them.

Eating or drinking marijuana exposes you to THC, the chemical that makes you high, without the risk of smoke exposure. The effects of edibles can take hours to feel, much slower than the effects of smoking or vaping.

The Oregon Health Authority says marijuana can make children very sick, so it’s important to keep any marijuana products in a locked area out of the reach of children.

If a child does eat or drink a marijuana product, call the Poison Center Hotline at 1.800.222.1222.

Baked Smart, a Portland based company, has designed and is distributing “Cannacals™”, an edible safety symbol that may be used on the majority of edibles on the market as a safeguard once an edible is outside the package. Baked Smart is promoting the use of a green cross on all cannabis infused food products.

One of my favorite niches or sectors of the marijuana industry in Oregon is the marijuana entertainment sector. The first one that I had ever heard of was the World Famous Cannabis Cafe (WFCC). It has since been shutdown due to new indoor air rules, but at one point in time it was the hotspot destination in Oregon. Other venues built on a similar model started popping up all over Oregon. Some are still operating, while others have been shutdown like the WFCC.

Pedal Bike Tours has offered historical tours of the Portland and Honolulu areas via people-powered transportation since 2007. On October 1^st, 2015, when early adult use/recreational marijuana sales began in Oregon, they launched a new project, Portland Pot Tours.

Sarah Gilbert, who has been with the company for almost two years, came up with the idea and said it was a “slam dunk with the staff…everyone loved it! And the response we received from the cannabis industry was excellent.”

Tour attendees visit two dispensaries, two glass shops, and make two snack stops. Gilbert adds that the tours are almost entirely filled by people visiting Portland from out of state and the first guest they had was from Japan!

Recent regulations in both Washington state and Oregon now allow out of state investors to fund and/or compete with local cannabis businesses.

Oregon and Washington recreational cannabis businesses will soon face greater pressure from outside competition as new regulations now allow out-of-state investors to fund and compete with local cannabis businesses. 

This new legislation lifts residency requirements enabling once banned out-of-state investors to participate-in and fund Oregon and Washington cannabis operations.

Meghan Walstatter owner of Pure Green Dispensary in Portland, Oregon said she used to favor residency requirements, but now she welcomes outside influence. 

Only a handful of medical marijuana growers have applied for Jackson County permits to keep growing on rural residential land — even though growers without permits face fines of up to $10,000 and orders to remove their plants.

Most are flying under the radar, hoping to avoid detection rather than pay the $1,563 permit application fee, the Mail Tribune reported.

Jackson County has received only seven applications from growers hoping to be grandfathered in by qualifying for a pre-existing, non-conforming use permit.

“It isn’t many. It’s a lot less than I had anticipated,” said Jackson County Development Services Director Kelly Madding.