About half of the dispensaries in Oregon have not registered with the Dept of Revenue.

The tax is applied to the retail price of the recreational products. Dispensaries must list the retail price and total tax separately on customer receipts.(SALEM, Ore.) - A temporary 25-percent tax is now in effect for all recreational marijuana products sold at medical marijuana dispensaries through December 31, 2016.

"Dispensaries can set whatever price they choose for their products, but the price must be set up front and the law requires consumers be issued a receipt showing the price and tax they're paying," said John Galvin, manager of the Marijuana Tax Program.

When she was born, doctors didn’t expect Remie Miette Ellett to live. In anticipation of her death, her mother gave her the name that means “sweet little remedy.”

“I just really wanted her to have a pretty name I could remember her by,” Sarah Ellett says. “She has proven she is really just what her name says.”

Oregon’s license application process for recreational marijuana opened Jan. 4, building on a year of public meetings and an early recreational sale last October. 

The state’s licensing process runs differently than others like Florida, where licenses are limited to a specific number of players in the market. In Oregon, anyone is able to apply for a recreational license.

Though Oregon's new clean indoor air provisions kicked in Jan. 1, the World Famous Cannabis Café continues to operate as usual this week, with its popular Stoner Bingo meet-ups and Thursday night jam sessions.

But Multnomah County has already received a complaint about smoking in the establishment and plans to send owner Madeline Martinez a letter reminding her about the law.

A county code enforcement officer plans to visit within 30 days to make sure Martinez is in compliance, Julie Sullivan-Springhetti, a county spokeswoman, said. The officer will outline the steps the business needs to take and make an additional unannounced visit, she said. .

Penalties include the possibility of daily fines of up to $500 per violation, said Sullivan-Springhetti. 

The State of Oregon started accepting recreational marijuana business applications on Monday. It was a bit of a bumpy start due to some inclement weather in the Willamette Valley area where the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) headquarters is located. The OLCC was hoping to have a call center staffed for opening day to help answer questions about the applications and the application process. But due to snow and ice, the office was closed Monday.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission early Monday opened the state's online application system for marijuana licenses. 

The agency initially planned to staff a call center with staff and policy experts to take questions from people completing applications, but Sunday's winter storm prompted the state to close its Portland office buildings Monday.

Mark Pettinger, a spokesman for the commission, said state staff will not be on hand to take questions from applicants today.

Applicants may send questions to marijuana@oregon.gov or call 503-872-6366. Responds are likely to be delayed, the agency said.

There are four states that have legalized recreational marijuana (and D.C.!) so far in America. Those of course are Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Colorado. Colorado was the first to allow recreational marijuana sales (January 2014), followed by Washington (July 2014), and then Oregon (limited sales began October 2015). Alaska is still working out their rules, and Washington D.C. doesn’t allow sales (just possession, cultivation,and distribution for no consideration).

A Portland cannabis cultivator has raised $2.8 million in the last three months.

Created last January by a former Silicon Valley startup founder, HiFi Farms started raising seed money in October. The company will stop at about $3 million, said the company's creator.

A large chunk, $1.8 million, went toward a 50-acre farm in Hillsboro, where company founder Sara Batterby's first generation plant clones are now growing.

Banks in Oregon are rejecting money from legal marijuana businesses over fears that they will face federal money-laundering charges and lose their FDIC insurance if they serve those business. Are the banks’ fears justified? We look at the many challenges facing cannabis business owners on the Lip News with Jose Marcelino Ortiz and Jo Ankier.