Reports: Oregon overloaded, Colorado on mark

Two of the first states to broadly legalize marijuana took different approaches to regulation that left Oregon with a vast oversupply and Colorado with a well-balanced market. But in both states prices for bud have plummeted.

A new Oregon report by law enforcement found nearly 70 percent of the legal recreational marijuana grown goes unsold, while an unrelated state- commissioned Colorado study found most growers there are planting less than half of their legal allotment — and still meeting demand.

The reports offer case studies for California and other pot-friendly states as they ramp up their legal pot industries. They also underscore some key differences in how broad legalization was handled that have helped shape differently evolving markets in each state.

The Oregon study released by the Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area — a coalition of local, state and federal agencies — includes the medical and general-use markets and the illegal market. It notedOregon still has a serious problem with out- of-state trafficking and black market growers.

Colorado gave existing medical marijuana growers the right of first refusal for licenses, cutting down right away on a potential source of blackmarket production. The state also requires growers to show they have sold 85 percent of their output before allowing them to expand their growing operation, said BeauWhitney, senior economist at national cannabis analytics firm New Frontier Data.