Nevada isn’t the only study worried about cannabis regulations. Oklahoma’s Medical Marijuana Authority is concerned with its rapid growth and the following implications. After the boom in business last year, a bill was proposed to pause cannabis licensing to “implement moratoriums as they deem necessary”. The bill’s sponsor, Rusty Cornwell explains that the huge amount of business flooding Oklahoma is causing compliance issues on the facility side.
“In the initial rush to roll out a system for granting commercial licenses, we’ve failed to enforce their compliance with state law. House Bill 3208 would temporarily pause the issuance of commercial licenses so that we can confirm current operations are complying with the law.”
— State Representative Rusty Cornwell, The Tulsa World
This concern stems from illegal cannabis cultivations allegedly growing cannabis for the state’s medical marijuana program. That’s on top of the 300 licenses that were revoked in a lawsuit last year as well. Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe requested $4 million to combat the near 60% of cannabis grown illegally. It’s led to some grows being seized but the lack of a system in place to track sales like other states, it’s hard problem to weed out.
SEED TO SALE TRACKING IN OTHER STATES
Nearly every recreational state has a seed-to-sale system. Even for those who don’t like them, staying compliant with the state can leave you no choice. The specifics of said system however can make the market’s gray areas even grayer. Companies like Metrc who offer tracking services can come with hefty fees. For a market trying to fight for more accessibility on the business end, this is fuel to the cannabis-tax fire. It can also cripple homegrown cannabis and accessibility, resulting in medical patients unable to obtain medicine due to finances.
At the moment, the state has no seed-to-sale tracking to ensure compliance. The OMMA director, Adria Berry, asserted that their focus on compliance and public safety is renewed with this proposal. With only 40% of Oklahoma’s growing and production sites having been inspected, it’s a long way to go.
Oklahoma’s Medical Marijuana market has outgrown states that have been recreational for years. This is all despite them only being medically legal. Yet still, they keep the nation’s eyes locked with its more accessible industry. The recent move, however, could change that.
