Topic: Local

Sales of cannabis punched through the stratosphere in May, soaring 55% over last May and eclipsing April’s banner month in Jackson County, based on data from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. “I definitely think that we’ve had a lot of people who have come in kind of stressed out and need to relax,” said C.J. Butler, budtender at Emerald Triangle Dispensary in Medford. “Everybody seems to have been very inquisitive lately, looking for a way to chill out.” Butler said many customers have expressed interest in the health benefits of cannabis, particularly focusing on edibles. Many customers are looking for

A new $125,000 grant program to help struggling businesses in Medford was so popular that it was effectively used up as fast as it became available Monday morning. “The $125,000 was gone in 15 minutes,” said Medford City Councilor Tim D’Alessandro. “We’re really happy we could inject this little bit into the economy.” He said the city hasn’t processed all of the applications yet to determine whether the businesses that applied were qualified, but the city received enough applications to exceed the dollar value of the grant program. The money for the Small Business Assistance Grant Program came from cannabis

Those long chatty hours of well-paying bud-trimming work may be slipping away, thanks to (surprise!) machines. On the upside, these machines seem to do wonders for growers, with a device called the Buckmaster Pro able buck and trim many pounds an hour. At a big launch party demonstration in November at their White City shop, OM Extracts showed off their Oregon Education Center for automated bucking and trimming, promoting the Triminator XL Dry Bud Trimmer, which they call the fastest in the world. Triminator, which has been manufacturing the machines in Grass Valley, California, starting a decade ago, says the