Oregon marijuana growers dreading the new aspergillus testing rule can exhale (for now). That’s because on Friday, August 25, the Oregon Supreme Court stayed enforcement of the new aspergillus testing rule pending a final hearing on the merits. This is a big deal! Kudos the Cannabis Industry Alliance of Oregon (CIAO) and the co-petitioners who filed a petition against the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and Oregon Liquor & Cannabis Commission (OLCC) seeking judicial review of the new aspergillus testing rule. Kevin Jacoby, who represents the petitioners, did an excellent job. We’ve covered the aspergillus testing rule before here, here, and discussed the lawsuit here. We were not optimistic about the odds of success, but are quite pleased for our numerous clients who grow marijuana in Oregon.
Let’s dive into the ruling and what it means.
How did we get here?
In March 2023, the Oregon Health Authority (“OHA”) promulgated a new rule that required testing marijuana for certain microbiological contaminants, including for aspergillus. On July 28, 2023, the CIAO and others filed a lawsuit challenging the OHA’s new aspergillus testing rule. The petitioners seek to stop the OHA from enforcing the rule and when they filed suit they also filed
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