The Oregon Cannabis Association and the Cannabis Industry Alliance of Oregon are merging after the boards of the organizations voted to approve the change last week, Oregon Public Broadcasting reports. The new organization is called the Cannabis Industry Alliance of Oregon and represents more than 500 members.
The move comes as the state’s industry faces oversupply, limited demand, and record low prices, the report says. Hunter Neubauer, board member of the group, told OPB that the state’s cannabis industry has already experienced a pair of boom and bust cycles. A February report from the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) had predicted a tumultuous year ahead for the nearly decade-old industry.
“The overabundance of supply throughout 2021 and 2022 resulted in historically low wholesale and retail prices for both usable marijuana and concentrate/extract products. The declining prices, in combination with a tempering in the growth of quantities purchased, resulted in the first-ever decrease in annual sales (from $1.2 billion in 2021 to $994 million in 2022).” — OLCC, “2023 Recreational Marijuana Supply and Demand Legislative Report”
The agency predicts that the low margins will continue unless the federal government “creates pathways to interstate commerce.”
The Oregon Cannabis Association was formed in 2014, when voters approved adult-use cannabis legalization in the state. The Cannabis Industry Alliance was formed last year after the merger of three industry groups.
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