Cannabis dispensary license lotteries not applicable to Oregon group

OREGON – Three recently announced lotteries for 185 licenses allowing operation of adult-use cannabis dispensaries aren’t much help to five local businesspersons looking to open a craft grow facility in Oregon.

On July 15, Gov. JB Pritzker announced dispensary lotteries and said the Illinois Department of Agriculture had notified applicants who won one of 40 craft grow, 32 infuser or 141 transporter licenses.

“The lottery doesn’t necessarily apply to us at this stage,” said Ed Messenger, CEO of The Tree Pharm. “We’re part of the initial bill that was giving out 40 licenses across the state for craft growers only. We have not received a notice, so we’re assuming we didn’t get the license at this stage.”

There are four categories of cannabis licenses: transportation; infusion, which is concentrates, edibles, beverages, etc.; growers – either cultivation or craft – where cannabis is grown strictly for wholesale; and dispensaries, which offer retail sales, Messenger said.

The difference between craft grow and cultivation centers is the amount of product that can be grown, Messenger said. Cultivation centers can grow up to 100,000-square-feet of canopy, while craft grow operations are limited to an initial 5,000-square-feet of canopy.

The Tree Pharm plans to open at 807 Pines Road in Oregon, where Basler’s Ace Hardware previously was located. Along with Messenger, The Tree Pharm team includes David Murray, Cole Johnson, Justine Messenger and Tyler Hagemann.

Once The Tree Pharm receives a license, the operation is good to go, Oregon City Administrator Darin DeHaan said.

“All of those hoops have already been resolved here,” DeHaan said. “There’s no more political review or any debate on it. All of those ordinances have been codified and put in place.”

Much of the information coming from the state regarding cannabis licenses is about dispensaries, because of controversy surrounding the equity of license recipients, Messenger said.

“Unfortunately the lawsuits – even though I can relate to their issues and what they’re complaining about – have caused a lot of delays in getting this process to come to fruition,” he said.