OKLAHOMA CITY – A marijuana industry consultant endorses several of the House Republicans’ reform measures, but is particularly concerned about proposed packaging standards.
“The predominant thing that poses an issue is prepackaging,” said Tulsan Sean Stanley, 31, who said he has performed various jobs in the industry in the last four years, including work as a grower and as a dispenser.
Among its various provisions, House Bill 3019 would allow medical marijuana packaging to be clear in order for consumers to view the product inside the container so long as the container is child resistant.
“There’s a financial burden associated with packaging: the cost of the packaging and the labor that’s involved,” Stanley said. Packaging “has a real impact on some of the smaller companies that are struggling.”
Packaging also affects the longevity of marijuana, he said. Cannabis, “like tobacco, requires proper temperature and humidity.” Otherwise “the oils degrade and evaporate.” Prepackaging involves “a lower quantity of product, which dries out quicker.”
Stanley said he’s “all for regulation and consumer protection.”
For example, he said he supports the proposed two-year moratorium on issuance of medical marijuana licenses to commercial farmers, processors and dispensaries. The pause would give the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority time to visit all commercial licensees and verify by inspection whether they are in compliance with state laws.
The market is “oversaturated,” Stanley said. Oklahoma has nearly 2,300 licensed dispensaries to serve almost 382,000 licensed medical marijuana patients, an average of 167 customers per dispensary.
“But keep in mind that many of those dispensaries are in rural areas, where there aren’t nearly as many cardholders as there are in the metropolitan areas.”
Stanley contends the government’s response to many of the issues arising from Oklahoma’s authorization of medical marijuana has been “reaction, rather than examining what the root cause of the problem is.”