Editor’s note: On Monday, Portland’s best new pizzeria, the old-school hip-hop-themed P.R.E.A.M., hosts a pizza-and-weed pairing dinner. We are pretty stoked—and as of our deadline, a few tickets were still available. In honor of the event, we reached out to Portland’s original cannabis columnist to provide his own pizza-and-strain pairings.

PORTLAND, Ore. — About 15 years ago, when she was in her 20s, Erika Walton handed a bong to someone who turned out be a police officer, and was cited for marijuana possession. She paid the fine, she said, but the violation lingered on, haunting her record.

On a recent afternoon, Walton was at a free legal clinic here in Oregon’s largest city, filling out paperwork to have that infraction forever sealed. Once the process is complete, she will be able to legally say to an employer, landlord or anybody else who asks that she has never been convicted or cited for any drug crime at all.

“It’s taken away a lot of my life,” Walton said as she inked out her fingerprints, which Oregon requires applicants for sealing to file. 

Indoor marijuana growers producing for the recreational market would be capped at 10,000-square-foot facilities and outdoor growers would be limited to 2-acre parcels under one proposal being considered by a state-appointed committee looking at marijuana regulation.

Draft rules for grow sites, pesticide use, retail sales and the production of concentrates and marijuana-infused edibles were discussed Friday by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission's rules advisory committee. 

Though anyone 21 and older may buy up to a quarter-ounce of cannabis flowers, unlimited seeds and four plants from medical marijuana dispensaries starting Oct. 1, those purchases are part of Oregon's early sales program, which is overseen by the Oregon Health Authority.

Bud tenders Ieasha Semler, 23, left, and Anna Marie Alcantara, 22, roll marijuana cigarettes at the Chalice Farms dispensary in Dundee, Ore. Oregon is exploring a new path in regulation and punishment as its legal recreational market takes shape. By KIRK JOHNSON September 20, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. — About 15 years ago, when she was in her 20s, Erika Walton handed a bong to someone who turned out be a police officer, and was cited for marijuana possession. She paid the fine, she said, but the violation lingered on, haunting her record.

As new cannabis activist, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Business Conference was exactly the event I had hoped it would be. I learned a ton about the emerging cannabis industry, like all the specifics with Oregon’s new laws and regulations, and I got a chance to hear great insight from industry experts. Because everything is so new, events like this are critical to success. The more we come together and educate each other now, the better things will turn out in the long run for Oregon’s legal marijuana industry.

U.S. Cannabis Benchmark Spot Index down 9% to $1,948 as harvest begins. The national price decreased by $185 per pound week-on-week, after reaching $2,133 last week, in what currently appears to have been the seasonal peak.

The fall harvest season has begun. Depending on local climate and the strains being grown, outdoor growers will generally harvest from mid-September to mid-November. Kushes and other indica-dominant strains are ready for harvest earlier, while sativa-dominant varieties require more time to mature if they are to be considered high-quality and exhibit fully the characteristics desired by consumers.

Two years ago, brothers Adam and Ramsey Hamide, both in their thirties, were self-employed online ticket brokers. Today they run Main Street Marijuana, the largest grossing marijuana retail store in the state of Washington, ringing up $3 million in sales last month. The store is located in Vancouver, near Washington’s border with Oregon and only 15 minutes from downtown Portland, so a large portion of the store’s customers come from Oregon where there have been no legal recreational marijuana sales.

Here are a few snapshots of the highlights at the Oregon Medical Marijuana Business Conference in Portland last weekend.

There were a lot of information sessions, and a lot of people I met seem to be just starting to get into the business. In Oregon there are no limits on licenses and it appears to be fairly easy to get licensed in comparison to the crazy regulations in many of the other states. The challenge for cannabis growers in Oregon is that with only 3 million people, successful growers will need to be efficient and produce consistent top quality product. Professional growing environments will make the difference on profitability.

Greenhouses versus Warehouses

In less than two weeks, Oregonians -- and any one else 21 and older -- will be able to walk into a marijuana shop and buy pot, the latest milestone in the state's long history with the drug.

Though the Oregon Liquor Control Commission doesn't plan to launch a regulated recreational market until late next year, the Legislature authorized medical marijuana dispensaries to sell to the recreational market starting Oct. 1. Until now, dispensaries served only medical marijuana patients and their caregivers. Starting next month, they will be able to sell to anyone with a government-issued ID that shows they are 21.

TJ’s Organic Provisions' new dispensary in Eugene offers a highly curated collection of flowers, edibles (including delicious Cannavore confections) and extracts sourced from their very own gardens.

Eugene, Oregon (PRWEB) September 18, 2015