Weed was legalized in Oregon back in 2014, but fast forward to present day, and the people of Oregon have more pot than they can smoke or eat.
TIME reports that five years after voters moved to legalize marijuana, Oregon is trying to curb production, with there being so much marijuana around that even if production stopped instantly, it would take up to six years to consume all of the marijuana left over, according to a report from the OLCC.
"The harsh reality is we have too much product on the market," says Oregon Governor Kate Brown, who intends to sign a bill put forward to the House of Representatives that not only reducing the huge surplus, but making sure that the excess weed doesn't end up on the black market.
Of the 10 states which legalized marijuana in America, Oregon had a head start over the likes of Colorado or California thanks to its moist climate and rich soil. There were a lot of illegal growers who went legitimate once smoking pot became legal, and the saturation of supply means that demand is down.
In October of 2016, marijuana was worth around $10 a gram, but that's dwindled in the months and years since, going as low as half that in December last year. Margo Lucas, a marijuana grower, hopes the new measures will make it easier for her business to thrive. "We’re a very young industry," she explained.
"So when we go out of business, we’re going to go down hard. Many of us will lose our homes. … You’re going to have a lot of entrepreneurs in this state that are pretty unhappy with the way that this ends if we don’t get some support with this bill."
But not everybody's happy with the development, saying the law will drive growers and business owners into the illegal side of marijuana distribution. "This current track seems like a giant step backwards toward prohibition, which has always been a disaster," said Blake Runckel, in a written statement to lawmakers.
In the long-term, the hope for Oregon is that the federal government will allow the state to sell to other states around America, which would help to offset some of the overstuffed marijuana reserves currently in the state.
"We will kind of be like what bourbon is to Kentucky," said state Senator Floyd Prozanski.