Navigator Award Finalist: Nathan Rix, Oregon Liquor Control Commission, Senior Policy Analyst
Building the regulatory framework for legalized recreational marijuana sales in Oregon was no easy feat, but it’s something that other states can learn from.
This is the 34th in a series of profiles on the 50 finalists for Route Fifty’s Navigator Awards program. The first 10 finalists were from the Government Allies and Cross-Sector Partners category. Finalists 11-20 were from the Agency and Department Leadership category. Finalists 21-30 were from the Executive Leadership category. Finalists 31-40 were from the Next Generation category. Finalists 41-50 are from the Data and IT Innovators category. Explore our complete list of 50 finalists.
PORTLAND, Ore. — For months and months, Oct. 1 was a date on the calendar that many in Oregon were watching closely. That’s when the sale of recreational marijuana at retailers licensed by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission could officially begin, marking another milestone in the transition away from the state’s existing medical marijuana system.
That shift from the medical system to a recreational one regulated by the state hasn’t been an easy feat. But it was something that was mandated in Initiative 91, which was approved by Oregon voters in 2014.
The approved measure not only legalized limited amounts of recreational marijuana for adults age 21 years and older, but it left the OLCC in charge of crafting a new regulatory framework, including taxing.
While there were some doubts that the Oct. 1 deadline could be met, the OLCC announced at the end of September that it had approved licenses for 26 recreational marijuana retailers around the state, meeting the commission’s promise that recreational stores would be open in the fall of 2016. Additionally, the commission said that it to date had approved 326 licenses for recreational marijuana producers, processors, wholesalers, retailers and labs.
Oregon’s marijuana testing program is the nation’s most comprehensive to ensure consumer safety and the state recently issued its first health alert for marijuana tainted with high-levels of pesticide.
It’s been a long road since voters approved Initiative 91 and the journey isn’t done yet.
“Over the next few months OLCC expects to license several hundred retailers in communities that have opted to allow retail marijuana,” OLCC chair Rob Patridge said in a Sept. 30 statement. “I believe the near future will bring substantial policy, legal, and other challenges for the OLCC in regulating marijuana and we are up for the challenges."
An important Oregon state employee helping to navigate this brave new regulatory world is Nathan Rix, an OLCC senior policy analyst with the recreational marijuana program.
Rix has led a team of professionals to implement the regulatory structure and the IT infrastructure needed to manage it effectively. (The OLCC worked with Olathe, Kansas-based NIC on the tech implementation.)
“What we’re trying to do is create an atmosphere where you can come into our regulated system and it will feel much more like an IRS audit than a SWAT team because we want you in the regulated market,” Rix said in March.
Rix, who previously worked as a strategic initiatives project manager for Oregon’s chief operating officer, is also an adjunct lecture in economics at George Fox University and sits as a citizen representative on the city of Tigard’s Budget Committee.
Route Fifty is pleased to name Rix a Navigator Award finalist in the Next Generation category for his hard work and dedication to help implement Oregon’s regulatory framework for recreational marijuana. As more states legalize marijuana, they’ll be looking at the work being done at the OLCC to bring marijuana out of the shadows and into a regulated system.
Michael Grass is Executive Editor of Government Executive’s Route Fifty and is based in Seattle.
NEXT STORY: Navigator Award Finalist: Robert Green, City Manager, Auburndale, Fla.