Oregon now requires cannabis employers and employees to report suspected human trafficking

Oregon cannabis operators and their employees are now required to report suspected human trafficking to the state or face potential legal action.

According to the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission order, “An employee or worker in a marijuana-licensed operation must report to a law enforcement agency or the OLCC if the employee or worker has a reasonable suspicion that sex trafficking or other human trafficking is involved.” appear on the premises. Employees or workers must also report if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that a minor is being employed or contracted on premises in a manner that violates OLCC rules.”

Mouthful as that may be, it actually makes it a Category 2 violation for cannabis workers not to report a suspected human trafficking case. Violation of such a degree carries a maximum penalty of 30 days in prison and/or a fine of nearly $5,000 in Oregon.

As a person who has spent the last decade involved with cannabis cultivation as an employee, journalist and visitor, it struck me as odd to explicitly include the employees in the language of the order as this is what every cannabis grow employee usually does – although not always – in a remote location, far from quick police response times or sometimes even working phones.

I asked Bryant Haley at the OLCC whether employees who fail to report this will be fined or imprisoned.

“Probably not,” Haley said. “It would be the monstrosity of any case. Has the person engaged in an illegal activity? This is a different situation. Did they intentionally turn a blind eye? It’s a different situation.”

According to Haley, the OLCC received the direction to issue this order from laws enacted at the state level to combat rampant labor and sex trafficking on marijuana farms in southern Oregon — many people sleep in greenhouses and live in appalling conditions , many “hemp farms” that were just forced labor cannabis farms, and a problem large enough to prompt state legislatures to direct the OLCC to require their license holders to do so reporting.

According to Mark Pettinger, another OLCC spokesman, this essentially makes anyone who works in the cannabis industry a “reporter on duty.” It would be up to the police to actually call for prison sentences for employees; the OLCC does not have this capability. However, the OLCC can impose fines.

When asked if the OLCC planned to issue fines on employees working for cannabis operators involved in the trade, particularly employees who failed to report such crimes, Haley was unable to give me a definite answer as such The case hasn’t happened yet, but he said her office’s main policy is taking action against the permit holder.

Regardless, human trafficking is a major problem in the cannabis industry, and I would fail to include the following attempt to combat it with the little power that belongs to me:

If you or someone you know has been involved in human trafficking, call the US Department of Homeland Security directly at 1-866-347-2423 or report it online here.

If you work for or own an Oregon cannabis company and suspect human trafficking or child labor has occurred, you are now required by law to report it using the online tool here.