Extended Medical Cannabis Licensing Moratorium Takes Effect in Oklahoma

Several cannabis-related bills that passed during the Oklahoma Legislature’s 2023 session took effect Nov. 1, including one that extends the state’s medical cannabis licensing moratorium until Aug. 1, 2026.

Gov. Kevin Stitt signed House Bill 2095 into law in May to extend the moratorium on issuing new medical cannabis cultivation, processing and dispensary licenses for two years from its original expiration date of Aug. 1, 2024.

A June 2023 study ordered by the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) and conducted by Cannabis Public Policy Consulting revealed that the regulated medical cannabis supply in the state outpaces demand by at least 32 times and could serve all cannabis consumers (patients and non-patients) 4.5 times over.

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Mark Woodward, public information officer for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control (OBN), provided updates to FOX 25 last week on the agency’s ongoing efforts to quash illicit cannabis activity in the state.

Woodward told the news outlet that investigators have shut down hundreds of unlicensed cultivation sites since Oklahoma voters approved the medical cannabis program in 2018. And as officials have been cracking down on unlicensed operations, thousands of licensees opted not to renew their annual licenses by an Oct. 31 deadline, Woodward said.

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Woodward told FOX 25 that 2 1/2 years ago, Oklahoma reached a peak of roughly 9,400 licensed growers. That number dipped to roughly 6,400 in 2022, and as of Nov. 1, Woodward told the news outlet that there were fewer than 3,800.

In addition to extending the licensing moratorium, H.B. 2095 gives the OBN, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the state attorney general’s office investigation and enforcement power over the medical cannabis industry so the organizations can assist the OMMA.

“This is about protecting the industry itself as well as ... making sure criminals don’t get a foothold here,” Woodward told FOX 25.