Thanks to the rush of people that were eager to grow it, there is now a massive oversupply of marijuana in the state of Oregon. In fact, at this point the backlog is approximately one million pounds…
Oregon has nearly 1 million pounds (453,600 kilograms) of marijuana flower – commonly called bud – in its inventory, a staggering amount for a state with about 4 million people. Producers told The Associated Press wholesale prices fell more than 50 percent in the past year; a study by the state’s Office of Economic Analysis found the retail cost of a gram of marijuana fell from $14 in 2015 to $7 in 2017.
On a related note, Oregon employers are having a really hard time finding anyone that can pass a drug test at this point…
Oregon state economists Mark McMullen and Josh Lehner say that employers have told them that they can’t fill vacancies because every qualified candidate fails their drug test, which is sometimes mandated by the companies’ insurers.
Oregon has had legal recreational weed since July 1, 2015, and also boasts a sub-4% unemployment rate, the lowest since records began in 1990 (I know — they started keeping records in 1990?).
What do you think?
Are these two news items related?