A cannabis cultivation operation along U.S. 59 south of Jay is seen in aerial photos on June 30. Rural law enforcement authorities can often point out their local marijuana growing operations, most of which are duly licensed by the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority.
Big land grabs in rural Oklahoma for medicinal marijuana production have raised red flags with law enforcement and caused tension for neighbors.
Officials believe most farms are abiding by the law, but some are raising suspicions alongside their marijuana.
Under the state’s permissive system of marijuana cultivation, it wouldn’t be too hard for legally grown pot to slip across the border for illegal sale.
The lack of a strong tracking system for the plants grown, produced and marketed in Oklahoma is a big part of the problem. The state must work on this as a priority for public safety and fairness among growers.
Reporter Randy Krehbiel found several circumstances leading to unprecedented land purchases by foreign investors.
State Question 788 legalized medical marijuana. The laws framing the ballot initiative were made with the good intentions toward favoring small, local farms.
The law limited out-of-state ownership stakes, set low license fees and put no cap on the number of licenses to be issued.
An unforeseen consequence was attracting large operators routinely circumventing residential requirements and buying up to hundreds of licenses. It has confused investigators and frustrated small, law-abiding growers.
The state has issued more than 8,000 licenses, well above the needs of the Oklahoma market.
Law enforcement agencies say they suspect criminal operations are smuggling out marijuana for illegal sale outside the state. Such criminal enterprises attract other crimes, such as human trafficking and underground weapons sales.
We think legislators are on the right track with proposals to strengthen tracking, inspection and enforcement. The critical balancing point here is that the effort must be to regulate a legal industry, not stifle it.
New measures include the Oklahoma Tax Commission’s collecting and auditing taxes among cannabis businesses and bigger enforcement staffs for the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control.
More information, such as the level of foreign and out-of-state investors, will be collected from those businesses.
A pending lawsuit has stalled a seed-to-sale tracking system, but some mechanism for knowing where marijuana is being produced, in what quantity and where it ends up is crucial to keeping Oklahoma’s marijuana business legit. It’s the most basic way of ensuring that what is grown in Oklahoma remains here and is used as envisioned by SQ 788.
The medical marijuana industry is here to stay, but, like all industries, it will have to deal with government efforts designed to protect the public and make sure everyone is playing within the rules.
Featured video:
Attorney Ron Durbin speaks about a lawsuit he filed in Okmulgee County on behalf of plaintiff Beau Zoellner with Dr. Z Leaf, which has a processing facility in the area Zoellner oversees.
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