Medical use of cannabis in Canadian County is legal. However, recreational use of cannabis in the county and the State of Oklahoma remains prohibited. Fifty-six percent (56%) of 892,758 state voters supported the 2018 Oklahoma State Question 788, or the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative. SQ 788 codified the laws on the legal possession of medical marijuana. The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) is the regulatory agency of the state’s medical marijuana program.
Cannabis cultivation for medical purposes is allowed once a business holds a grower license. Licensed growers harvest, dry, cure, and package medical marijuana and non-infused pre-rolled medical marijuana with a net weight that does not exceed one (1) gram. They can sell their products to licensed processors, dispensaries, and other licensed growers.
Applicants for this license type must be at least 25 years old and are Oklahoma residents. They must prove that the members, managers, board members, and 75% of the commercial applicant’s ownership interests are Oklahoma residents. A surety bond of at least $50,000 is required per license; the grower licensee must own the premises for at least five (5) years.
The growers’ property line must not be within 1,000 feet of the property line of a public or private school. The OMMA has laid down a Tiered Licensing where the grower’s license applications fees are computed by canopy size for indoor, greenhouse or light deprivation grows and acreage for outdoor grows.
In addition, medical marijuana patients or their designated caregivers may grow up to six (6) mature marijuana plants and six (6) seedlings. The cultivation area must be away from public view.
Yes. Business entities with approved Processor Licenses manufacture cannabis and cannabis products for medical use. They can sell to licensed cannabis dispensaries and other licensed cannabis processors. Processors can manufacture marijuana into concentrates for licensed patients for a fee. The two types of licenses are hazardous processor licenses and non-hazardous ones, which are based on the type of chemicals used by the processor in the extraction process. Meanwhile, the application fees are calculated by the amount of biomass utilized in the production or the amount of concentrates manufactured.
The OMMA provided a Packaging and Labeling Guide, which contains information on properly packaging and labeling medical cannabis products. This guide ensures that consumers are well-informed about what they are buying and prevents unintended use of marijuana. Product packaging and labels must contain current and accurate information so as not to cause patient confusion regarding the product’s contents, potency, or other necessary information. Product packages and labels shall not bear any false, deceptive, or misleading statements.
Marijuana containers, packages, and labels must not be designed to appeal to or attract children or include any content that reasonably seems to target children, such as depicting toys, cartoon characters, and other similar images.
Yes. Individuals or cannabis businesses with a valid Dispensary License can legally sell medical marijuana products, including mature marijuana plants and seedlings. Licensed dispensaries can sell to licensed patients, caregivers, researchers, parents or legal guardians of a minor patient, or other licensed dispensaries. A dispensary license is the only license type allowed to sell medical marijuana directly to licensed patients and caregivers.
Allowable medical marijuana products sold in Oklahoma are cannabis oils, concentrates, edibles, tinctures, pills, topical forms, creams, gels, and other derivative forms but does not include live plant forms. Dispensaries can also sell their products by using a marijuana flower, shake, or trim to make pre-rolls with a net weight of up to one (1) gram. Anything that a dispensary sells must comply with OMMA Rules.
Licensed patients may legally possess a cumulative amount of medical marijuana up to:
Applicants for a dispensary license must be a resident of Oklahoma and 25 years old or above. Oklahoma residents must own seventy-five percent (75%) of interest in the commercial entity. The OMMA does background checks on the owners and officers of dispensaries. Its dispensing locations must not be within 1,000 feet of the property line for any public or private school, and each dispensary location requires a separate license application.
Yes. In 2020, House Bill 3228 allowed licensed medical marijuana dispensaries to deliver medical marijuana, medical marijuana concentrates, or medical marijuana products to the private home of a licensed medical marijuana patient, caregiver of a licensed patient, or parent or legal guardian of a licensed patient in Oklahoma. Dispensaries may only deliver cannabis products to residences within a 10-mile radius of their location. If there are no available cannabis dispensaries within 10 miles, the patient may receive the products from any dispensary in the same county.
A medical marijuana patient license authorizes an individual to legally purchase, receive, and grow medical cannabis and medical cannabis products in the state. The license is in the form of an ID card which presents the patient’s name, photo, type of license, expiry date, and unique medical marijuana license number.
The OMMA issues five (5) patient license types depending on who applies for a medical marijuana patient license. These license types are in-state adult patients, out-of-state patients, short-term patients (in-state), caregivers, and minor patients. In general, the applicant must obtain a physician's recommendation, photo, proof of identification, proof of Oklahoma residency, and proof of payment of fees.
The law does specify which medical conditions would qualify patients to receive medical marijuana. The physician evaluates whether the patient will benefit from medical marijuana. Here are some medical conditions that may warrant patients to acquire medical cannabis:
Additional requirements include a state-issued medical marijuana license for out-of-state patients, parents/guardians’ proof of ID, signature, and proof of Oklahoma residency for minor patients, and a caregiver designation form for caregivers.
Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority
PO Box 262266
Oklahoma City, OK 73126-2266
SQ 788 imposed a 7% excise tax for retail medical marijuana sales that will be collected at the point of purchase. Meanwhile, the State of Oklahoma collects a statewide sales tax. Local sales tax varies by municipality and county. The OMMA does not receive any state or local sales tax revenue. Instead, the sales tax funding goes to the state or local government to fund government services.
According to OMMA’s Licensing and Tax Data, as of July 7, 2023, it generated $51,916,563 in excise taxes from July 2022 to June 2023. This figure is less than the reported $60,215,200 in excise taxes collected in the previous year (July 2021 to June 2022). On the other hand, state and local sales tax revenue from July 2022 to June 2023 was $67,324,319. The collected sales tax revenue in the previous year was $77,650,906.
In 2018, SQ 788 legalized the sale and use of medical marijuana for patients in Oklahoma.
According to the FBI Crime Data Explorer, the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office reported 43 driving under the influence (DUI) arrests in 2017. In the following years (2019 and 2020), after the use of medical marijuana was approved, this figure decreased to 35 and 22 DUI arrests, respectively.
In 2017, the authorities made 39 DUI arrests for the illegal possession of marijuana. Then in 2019 and 2020, 31 and 37 arrests were recorded for the same offense. On the other hand, 34 arrests for the illegal sale/manufacturing of marijuana were reported in 2017. In 2019 and 2020, there were 31 and 37 arrests for the same illicit act.