The US Attorney for Oregon called a meeting of stakeholders to discuss the overproduction of legal marijuana in Oregon. It’s guessed that Oregon produces three times what it consumes legally, presumably the excess is sent to other states, which is a violation of federal trafficking laws.
He said “Make no mistake. We are going to do something about it but that requires an effort to do this together.” He recognizes that he can’t do anything without the support of the states and local governments. A typical Federal raid on an Oregon business would be politically distasteful, completely unsupported by local law enforcement, a huge target for millions of lawyers, and impossible to get past a jury.
So, the Fed’s hands are kinda small here. To solve the “problem” one must go to the states. How the states might respond:
A license to grow marijuana is issued by the state, about 1000 farms each in OR and WA. Both have no limits on the number of farmers. (Oregon has registered 25,000 medical grows in addition) They could rescind the licenses of half of the farmers, who will go back to the old (tried-and-true) illegal way of doing things.
The states could reduce the permitted canopy. If you are licensed for 10,000 square feet, you can only grow 5,000. Fine, but expect (these are clever guys) the yield-per-square-foot to rise by hundreds of percent in 3 years.
They can PAY farmers to not grow cannabis. Putting the taxpayer on the line for paying more for pot than they can get it at the neighborhood store. Think milk or sugar.
The states can go after the scofflaws. A large portion of the tax revenue from cannabis is earmarked for law enforcement. They can easily get federal help here, but you’d have local police enforcing local laws.
But, we’re not even close to talking about California…