This message is sent to the subscriber list for the Plans Examiner newsletter on behalf of the City of Portland's Cannabis Program, which is a part of Portland Permitting & Development.

The Cannabis Policy Oversight Team (CPOT) seeks your views through its community engagement survey.

The Cannabis Policy Oversight Team is the City's advisory body that addresses issues related to cannabis. We are exploring what a redeveloped advisory body might look like and how it might function. We need your help and feedback! We want to hear what’s important to our communities as to what a cannabis advisory body should be doing, who should be on it, what powers might it have, and how can it best respond to community needs.

Throughout 2014-2015, the City of Portland Cannabis Program held several town halls to engage with community members and stakeholders in order to receive feedback on the set of proposed regulations for newly legalized adult-use cannabis businesses in Portland city limits. Later, in 2016, the Cannabis Policy Oversight Team was created as a public advisory body made up of industry representatives, advocates, and community members to advise the Cannabis Program and provide recommendations on City cannabis policies.

In November 2022, Ballot Measure 26-228 was approved by Portland voters and initiated large systemic changes in the way the City government operates. There is a need to readjust the way the CPOT advisory body functions so that it can be more focused, powerful, and accountable in the new form of city government.

The purpose of this round of community engagement is to inform an act of City Council in 2025 that will re-create a CPOT as a type I advisory body with legislative authority reporting to a City Administrator or Deputy City Administrator. We need to hear from stakeholders to ensure that a future advisory body on cannabis represents community values, seeks the right membership, and creates a framework for effective action.

Please offer your feedback through the link below by Friday, December 13. If you have questions, please contact Cannabis Program Policy Coordinator Phil Keim at phil.keim@portlandoregon.gov or (503) 865-6997. Thank you.