Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed new medical marijuana regulations. What was included in the bill?

Gov. Kevin Stitt has vetoed a medical marijuana regulation bill that would have added restrictions on who can get patient cards and how much THC can be in a single serving.

The bill also included several other provisions meant to curtail illegal operations and, according to its author, move Oklahoma toward a true medical program.

Senate Bill 437 was crafted into an omnibus piece of legislation that included several individual reforms that already had been considered by the House and Senate. This final version was adopted in the final week of regular session last month. When it came up for a vote on May 25, the bill’s author, state Sen. Jessica Garvin, said it was “unfortunate” the hodgepodge bill was in its current state.

© NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN Medicinal marijuana being grown at the Stability Cannabis warehouse is pictured Nov. 30, 2022, in Oklahoma City.

Because regular session adjourned the following day, Stitt’s veto will stand and the bill cannot become law this year.

New restrictions on medical marijuana nixed

If the bill had become law, minors who wanted to get a medical marijuana patient card would have to obtain recommendations from two doctors instead of one. According to the bill, one of the doctors would have to have cared for the minor for at least a year or have been referred by the child’s physician.

It also would have let the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority require that a minor have specific medical conditions before obtaining a card. Those conditions would have been implemented by the agency rule process.

Another provision would have set limits on how much THC could be included in a single serving of cannabis. There is currently no limit on THC potency.

The omnibus bill also sought to strengthen regulation of dispensary-organized events and would have required that loose-leaf product be pre-packaged before sale. Current law allows dispensaries to sell loose marijuana “deli-style” from containers behind the counter.

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Another section of the bill would have created a temporary license for medical marijuana businesses. Temporary license holders would not be allowed to sell or handle marijuana during that time, but would instead have to submit the proper forms and documentation before obtaining a full annual license.

Dispensary employees also would have been required to take continuing education courses.

Why Gov. Kevin Stitt says he vetoed marijuana bill

In vetoing Senate Bill 437, Stitt said that he would support various parts of the bill if sent to him individually.

“Unfortunately, the bill would also roll back progress we have made as a state to address illegal marijuana grow operations and bad actors within the industry,” Stitt wrote. “As illegal grow operations and bad actors continue to be the primary issue facing the industry, it is unwise to repeal changes designed to curb their participation in the market in exchange for improvements to other areas of the state’s program.”

Stitt did not elaborate on which parts of the bill he didn’t like.

State Rep. Mickey Dollens said he was happy to see the governor’s veto. Dollens spoke out against the bill when it reached the House floor last month.

After the governor’s veto, he said that pre-packaging cannabis didn’t make sense. Dollens said he suspects that some business owners had purchased packaging equipment years ago in anticipation of such a law being introduced among the first set of regulations.

More: Oklahoma scores legal victory in ongoing battle against ‘ghost-owned’ marijuana operations

“When that was not a requirement, then they were out of their investment. And with the passage of this, they would stand to benefit financially,” said Dollens, D-Oklahoma City. “It doesn’t safeguard anything. It doesn’t change the process. The only thing it benefits are the people who’ve invested in the pre-packaging equipment.”

He also criticized the section of the bill that would require some individuals to have a qualifying medical condition before getting a card. Along with requiring it for minors under 18, the bill said those over 18 who are “currently enrolled in a public school” would have to prove they have a medical condition that qualifies them to receive a patient card.

The problem, Dollens said, was that the bill didn’t explicitly define what a public school is. The bill’s authors said it was their intent for the restriction to apply only to the K-12 public school system, but Dollens said that as written it could apply to any publicly funded school in Oklahoma.

“You could be 35 years old, enrolled in a publicly funded university or community college, and you could be breaking the law,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed new medical marijuana regulations. What was included in the bill?