Oregon Senate Passes Bill to Increase Penalties for Landowners Allowing Illegal Cannabis Cultivation

The Oregon Senate earlier this month passed a bill that would increase penalties for landowners who knowingly allow illegal cannabis cultivation on their property, KPIC reports. The legislation would end special tax assessments for properties found to unlawfully allow unlicensed cannabis cultivation. 

Special tax assessments are levied on property owners in a specific geographic area that fund local infrastructure projects or public improvements that primarily benefit those properties. 

State Sen. David Brock Smith (R) told KPIC that the legislation is designed to “disincentive … farmland owners from allowing or accepting payment or leasing land” for unlawful cannabis cultivation.  

“Those landowners need to be better stewards of their land and knowing what they’re allowing to be grown on it. It is their responsibility and this [bill] just puts that into the forefront for them to take responsibility of that land that they own.” — Smith to KPIC 

Douglas County Commissioner Chris Boice, who helped craft the language of the bill along with the Oregon Farm Bureau, told KPIC that there is a host of issues associated with unlicensed cannabis grows, including the unregulated use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers near waterways. Boise also noted that human trafficking is an issue at illegal cannabis cultivation sites. In a statement, Douglas County’s Human Trafficking Task Force noted that the sites are “high risk for both labor and sex trafficking.”

“In Douglas County, we have identified over 150 victims and survivors of human trafficking. Some exploited through the illicit marijuana industry, but all within our county,” the statement says. “Labor trafficking is fairly common within the industry with grow sites making big promises. Those coming in from other countries are promised good pay, an opportunity to live/work in the US, but the reality is they are often forced to live out in the elements without any facilities and among hazardous conditions.”

The statement adds that the origins of the illicit grow sites have come from “China, Russia, Ukraine, Mexico, Honduras, Laos, and from local entities within the southern Oregon counties.”

The legislation still needs approval from the House before moving to the governor.