OKLAHOMA CITY — A handful of measures that would impose stronger oversight on marijuana operations in Oklahoma are advancing through the Legislature.
Three of the bills address the rise of illegal marijuana grow operations in Oklahoma, and two focus on environmental issues associated with marijuana operations. All five have been passed in their legislative house of origin and were transmitted to the opposite chamber.
“Oklahoma’s illegal marijuana grow operations pose a serious threat to public safety, particularly in rural communities invaded by organized criminals from China and Mexico,” State Attorney General Gentner Drummond said. “As the state’s chief law enforcement officer, I am committed to working arm in arm with Oklahoma’s law enforcement agencies to deliver justice and restore peaceful order.”
The state experienced an “explosion” of marijuana grow operations in the aftermath of Oklahoma’s 2018 legalization of medical marijuana, Drummond said.
The number of marijuana farms in this state increased from 5,443 on Jan. 8, 2020, to a peak of 9,402 almost two years later, on Dec. 3, 2021. Marijuana grow operations had declined in number to 6,975 by March 1, 2023.
“While many marijuana grow businesses abide by the law, medical marijuana has been a Trojan horse for organized criminals whose illicit activities also include human trafficking, sex trafficking and distribution of deadly drugs like fentanyl,” Drummond said.
The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control estimates that nearly half of the state’s marijuana grow operations are illegal.
The attorney general noted that a number of pending bills were drafted to assist law enforcement in this area.
• House Bill 2095 would allow the state to give the attorney general investigative and enforcement authority over medical marijuana laws to support the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority; enable the OMMA to enter into and negotiate the terms of a memorandum of understanding between the department and other state agencies in reference to enforcement of laws regulating medical marijuana in this state; allow the attorney general to conduct unannounced on-site inspections of marijuana grow operations; give the attorney general, the Medical Marijuana Authority, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drug Control, and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation the full authority to investigate and enforce any violations of the law regarding medical marijuana and, “upon reasonable suspicion” that a medical marijuana business licensee is “illegally growing, processing, transferring, selling, disposing, or diverting marijuana,” to subpoena documents to identify any ownership interest in that MMJ business.
The bill also would allow the state to revoke the license of any medical marijuana business deemed to have intentionally not paid the 7% excise tax on retail medical marijuana sales and would prohibit the revoked party from being able to receive any other type of medical marijuana business license issued by the OMMA.
The measure would make it a misdemeanor crime for a licensed medical marijuana commercial grower to knowingly hire undocumented immigrants to work inside a commercial grow facility or on any property of the grow operation. A violation would be punishable by up to a year in the county jail and/or a fine of up to $500. In addition, the commercial grower’s license would be subject to revocation.
HB 2095 would decree that no more than one medical marijuana commercial grower license could be issued for any one property, and it would impose a cap on the number of active medical marijuana commercial grower licenses allowed to be issued by OMMA in circulation at 1,000 licenses.
The measure also would extend the moratorium on processing and issuing new medical marijuana business licenses by two years, until 2026.
Principal authors of HB 2095 are House Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, and Senate Assistant Majority Floor Leader Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle.
• Senate Bill 806 would require documented proof of land ownership of a licensed marijuana grow operation; require an application to transfer a business license to include the same information required of new licensees; prohibit transfers when a licensee is under investigation; limit transfers to once per year; and prohibit multiple business licenses within the same category to be registered under one address or physical location.
Principal authors of SB 806 are Sen. Brent Howard, R-Altus, and Echols.
• Senate Bill 475 defines a medical marijuana “straw” owner as a third party who is “put up in name only to take part in a medical marijuana business transaction,” said Paxton, author of the legislation.
Among its many provisions, SB 475 also would allow the director of the OBNDD to immediately suspend a registration without notice or a hearing “when there is cause to believe” an imminent danger to public health or safety exists, Paxton said.
The director is further authorized to assess a fine of $5,000 per day for any violation of federal or state law related to controlled dangerous substances or rules implemented by the agency.
If a registration is annulled, revoked or denied, the director of the OBNDD could prohibit the registrant or applicant from reapplying for registration for up to five years.
SB 475 passed the Senate and was referred to the House of Representatives, where it is sponsored by Echols.
• Senate Bill 913 would require all marijuana grow businesses to secure a $50,000 bond that could be recalled if the property is abandoned, the license is revoked, or in response to a violation of law, regulation, or ordinance necessitating remedial action. The bond would be used to address any necessary restoration of the property, including removing equipment, destroying waste, remediating environmental hazards, prohibiting public access, addressing improper buildings or determining the final disposition of any seized property.
The authors of SB 913 are Sen. Darcy Jech, R-Kingfisher, and Rep. Anthony Moore R-Clinton.
• Another MMJ environmental measure is Senate Bill 808, which would authorize the OMMA’s executive director to order a licensee to cease and desist operations if the director believes an environmental emergency exists.
“Oklahomans are fed up with the bad actors in the marijuana industry, many of whom are here illegally, flaunting our laws and damaging our environment,” said Sen. Joe Newhouse, R-Tulsa, principal author of the bill. “Through intentional neglect and refusal to clean up contaminants, runoff and even human waste, some grows have demonstrated a total lack of stewardship and they need to be stopped.”
The Legislature is “doing everything we can to reform this industry,” Newhouse said. “We must take it a step further and crack down on illegal operations that are polluting our environment. SB 808 would allow these grows to be shut down quickly and stop them from doing further damage.”
SB 808 was endorsed by the Senate and transmitted to the House, where it is sponsored by Rep. Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow.