Vaping in Oregon: The Flavored Products Ban is Just the Beginning

Immediately following the Order’s release, there was a flurry of takes on its meaning and impact. Things evened out a bit after OLCC issued a news release of its own (the “News Release”), clarifying that agency’s reading of the Order “does not include terpenes derived from marijuana as flavor” to fall within the ban (more on that below).

This blog post answers some high-level questions we received from clients in the immediate wake of the Order and the News Release, and gives some thoughts for going forward.

Does the ban take immediate effect? No, in the sense that the Order itself doesn’t ban anything– including flavored vaping products of any kind. Instead, it directs OLCC and OHA to take that step through “immediate” emergency rulemaking. As far as when those rules will issue, the News Release does not commit to any certain date, but it’s highly likely that we will have rules this week or next.

What’s going to happen with banned products? The News Release states that “OLCC will provide further guidance to licensees about taking inventory of flavored or non-marijuana terpene-containing products, removing them from retail store shelves and setting those items aside.” This means that there will be no grandfathering of non-marijuana terpene-containing (“NMTC”) products created or distributed before the rules take place. Retailers should note that the News Release warns of “compliance checks” to boot.