Oregon, awash in marijuana, takes steps to curb production

Oregon is awash in pot, glutted with so much legal weed that if growing were to stop today, it could take more than six years by one estimate to smoke or eat it all.

Now, five years after the state legalized recreational marijuana, it is looking to curb production.

Lawmakers are moving to give the Oregon Liquor Control Commission more leeway to deny new marijuana-growing licenses based on supply and demand.

The bill, which passed the Senate and is now before the House, is aimed at reducing the huge surplus, preventing diversion of unsold legal marijuana into the black market and forestalling a crackdown by federal prosecutors.

Supply is running twice as high as demand, and the retail price has plummeted.