Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said last week that he\u2019d seek changes to the state\u2019s medical marijuana program, which leads the nation in the number of dispensaries among all states with regulated cannabis sales. Stitt made his comments following the failure of a ballot measure to legalize adult-use marijuana in Oklahoma that was rejected by 61% of voters in a special election on March 7.<\/p>\n
Voters in Oklahoma legalized medical marijuana with the passage of State Question 788 in 2018, making it the 30th state in the nation to legalize the medicinal use of cannabis. With low barriers to entry including license fees for cannabis businesses of only $2,500, a fraction of the amount charged by most states, and no limit on the number of cannabis dispensaries, Oklahoma\u2019s medical marijuana industry quickly grew to become what\u2019s arguably the most robust in the nation<\/a>. The ballot measure also had few restrictions to qualify for a medical marijuana card, and the number of registered patients now equals nearly 10% of the state\u2019s population. As of November 2022, Oklahoma had more than 2,300 medical marijuana dispensaries, a figure that eclipses the number of gas stations in the state, according to a report<\/a> from local media.<\/p>\n But many residents of Oklahoma believe that the fast pace of growth of the medical marijuana industry has outpaced the state\u2019s ability to regulate it. Additionally, the lack of oversight has led to the development of a lucrative illicit industry of cannabis growers who ship their crops to jurisdictions that haven\u2019t yet ended cannabis prohibition.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s enough marijuana, I\u2019ve been told, grown in Oklahoma to supply the entire United States. That\u2019s not what this was supposed to be,\u201d Stitt said last week<\/a>. \u201cThis was supposed to be about medical use in the state of Oklahoma, and it\u2019s gotten way out of control.\u201d<\/p>\n State lawmakers responded last year by passing a bill that put a two-year moratorium on the issuing of new licenses for medical marijuana cultivators, processors and retailers. The state has also put new regulations in place, including a requirement for a seed-to-sale tracking system to monitor the production and movement of cannabis throughout the state. Other new rules include a requirement for cannabis producers to submit water and electricity usage data to state regulators in an attempt to identify businesses that are producing more cannabis than they\u2019re reporting.<\/p>\n Stitt says that the backlash against Oklahoma\u2019s medical marijuana industry was largely responsible for the failure of State Question 820, an initiative that would\u2019ve legalized adult-use cannabis. After being denied a slot on the ballot for the November general election by procedural delays and a state Supreme Court ruling, Stitt announced in October that a special election to decide State Question 820 would be held on March 7.<\/p>\n \u201cAs I was traveling the state, I knew Oklahomans didn\u2019t want it,\u201d Stitt said. \u201cThey were so tired of a dispensary on every single corner.\u201d<\/p>\n State Question 820 was opposed by law enforcement organizations and many of the state\u2019s Republican leaders, including Stitt. Representatives of the state\u2019s agricultural industry and many residents of the state\u2019s rural areas also expressed opposition to the ballot measure to legalize adult-use cannabis in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen the negative impact the rapid growth of the unregulated medical marijuana industry has had on Oklahoma agriculture and the rural communities,\u201d said Scott Blubaugh, president of American Farmers and Ranchers. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen a rise in farming challenges, and we\u2019ve seen a strain on our rural electric and our rural water utilities.\u201d<\/p>\n State Question 820 failed at the polls in last week\u2019s special election, with 61% of the electorate voting against the measure. The governor attributed the loss to the state of Oklahoma\u2019s existing medical marijuana industry.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Oklahomans had a lot of fatigue around marijuana,\u201d Stitt said. \u201cThey clearly do not want recreational marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n With the fate of SQ 820 now sealed, Stitt and state lawmakers have said that they\u2019ll work to tighten control over Oklahoma\u2019s medical marijuana program. But he acknowledged that they must be careful not to infringe on the will of voters who passed the medical marijuana legalization measure.<\/p>\n \u201cOklahomans have a big heart: that if it\u2019s [cannabis] going to help someone medically, we want that to happen,\u201d Stitt said. \u201cBut we don\u2019t believe everyone with a hangnail should be able to get a medical card.\u201d<\/p>\n So far, dozens of cannabis-related bills<\/a> have been introduced for the 2023 legislative session, including several bills designed to tighten regulations on the state\u2019s medical marijuana industry. Among them is SB 116<\/a>, which prohibits commercial medical marijuana growers from being located within 1,000 feet of a place of worship. SB 133<\/a> excludes marijuana production from agriculture sales tax exemptions, likely raising the tax liability for cannabis cultivators. Another bill, SB 801<\/a>, rolls back restrictions on local control of cannabis businesses by allowing municipalities to modify their planning or zoning procedures to forbid medical cannabis businesses to locate in certain areas.<\/p>\n The bills will be considered during the 2023 legislative session that ends on May 26.<\/p>\n The post Oklahoma Proposes Medical Marijuana Changes After Adult-Use Measure Fails<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said last week that he\u2019d seek changes to the state\u2019s medical marijuana program, which leads the nation in the number of dispensaries among all states with regulated cannabis sales. Stitt made his comments following the failure of a ballot measure to legalize adult-use marijuana in OklahomaContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13711,16969,50,216,90,65,415,139,4697,4318,2554,5197,16970],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62620"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62621,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62620\/revisions\/62621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Medical Marijuana Backlash<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Voters Reject State Question 820<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n
\nRead More: Oklahoma Proposes Medical Marijuana Changes After Adult-Use Measure Fails<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"