Destruction and Disposal

Destruction of Medical Marijuana

OMMP registrants may voluntarily destroy and dispose of culled marijuana materials, including: non-viable clones; diseased plants; pruned vegetation; expired marijuana items; and, processing wastes.  OMMP registrants may also be ordered by the agency to destroy excess plants or excess marijuana items.

Destruction. Registrant must use a destruction method that: (1) Complies with all state and local laws (including waste disposal); and (2) Makes the marijuana item undesirable, unrecognizable and unfit for human or animal use; incapable of growth or germination. “Use” includes, but is not limited to, ingestion, inhalation, topical application, processing or remediation.

Destruction Methods. Medical marijuana items should be rendered unusable by grinding (for solids) and incorporating or absorbing (for liquids) the marijuana items with other material so the resulting mixture is at least fifty percent (50%) non-marijuana waste. See Table 1, below.

Disposal. Disposal must be accomplished by delivery of the destroyed marijuana to an offsite solid waste processing facility, such as a municipal or regional landfill, incinerator or composting site. For more information on cannabis disposal, and disposal facilities available in your area, visit the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) website: http://www.oregon.gov/deq/Regulations/Pages/Marijuana-Regulation.aspx

Hazardous Waste Determination. The extraction process is considered an industrial process; making any waste generated an industrial waste. Generators of industrial waste must make their own determination whether their waste is a hazardous waste requiring special management and regulation. In most cases, cannabis extracts are not considered a hazardous waste. For assistance, please contact the DEQ Hazardous Waste Technical Assistance contact responsible for your county.

Table 1. Destruction and Disposal Methods