A middle-age Oregon resident who died from lung disease tied to vaping bought cannabis oil from two marijuana retail stores and investigators are now trying to find leftover product to analyze it, state health officials said Thursday.

It’s unclear if the person vaped products from one or both of the stores, said Oregon Health Authority spokesman Jonathan Modie. Nor do health officials know if the person altered the THC liquid or mixed it with a home-made product, Modie said.

Health investigators are trying to track the oil to figure out if or how it led to the resident’s death in July. Officials wouldn’t identify the stores where the victim shopped.

The wholesale market for legal cannabis is marked by great regional variation, but the oversupply that has sent prices plummeting in Oregon and other Western states has not been able to dampen the general upswing on the national level. 

The potential tax revenue from the legalization of cannabis has been at the center of the argument between republicans and democrats. Proponents of legalization say states who haven’t legalized cannabis should look at the revenue generated from alcohol and other sin taxes as a window into what could be. 

A few weeks ago, we explained what Oregon’s “total THC” testing requirement is and why it matters from a contractual point of view. Today, we further explore this issue and discuss how it is affecting industry players’ ability to export and import hemp and hemp products to the Beaver State.

Marijuana terpenes — flavorings distilled from the plant — fetch high prices online, but Oregon processors can’t access the market, said Caleb Mata, CEO of Oregon Genetics.

Drivers heading north on I-5 in southern Oregon not only enjoy the region’s towering mountains and evergreen forests, they are also treated to the occasional enticement. At various points along the way, giant billboards appear, shouting out messages like “NEED WEED? Exit Here” and the succinct “MARIJUANA! This exit.”

And when motorists pull off the highway and wander into those shops, they’re finding weed at unbelievable prices. One shop offered grams of the popular Blue Dream strain for $2, and bargain-hunting buyers could walk out with an ounce for only $45. A number of other strains were also available for $100 an ounce or less.

Five years after Oregon legalized recreational marijuana, its lawmakers now are trying to rein in production, fearing the state’s big weed surplus will tempt some licensed businesses to sell their products out of state or on the illegal market.

Such diversions could invite a crackdown from the federal government and cast a pall over the legal pot industry. Last year, the U.S. attorney for the District of Oregon put the state on notice when he announced that curbing interstate trafficking was his top cannabis law enforcement priority. 

Oregon’s saturated recreational cannabis market has been stealing headlines nationwide, but it’s exploding CBD-driven hemp market may not be too far behind. The promise of profits has brought in farmers from all ends of the industry, but some fear the boom may cause the entire cannabis industry to crumble.

A unit of wheat is a called a bushel, and a standard weight of potatoes is called a century. But hemp as a fully legal U.S. agricultural commodity is so new, a unit of hemp seed doesn't have a universal name or an agreed-upon quantity.

That's one example of the startling lack of uniformity -- and accountability -- in an industry that's sprung up almost overnight since the U.S. late last year removed hemp from the controlled substances list.

A global hemp research lab announced June 13 in Oregon, coupled with a nascent national review board for hemp varieties and a handful of seed certification programs nationwide, are the first stabs at addressing those concerns -- and at creating accountability by standardizing U.S. hemp for a global market.