Oklahoma medical marijuana industry: Gov. Stitt calls for voters to ‘shut it down’ – News On 6
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In Gov. Stitt’s last State of the State address, he called for a vote of the people to end the Oklahoma medical marijuana industry.
Stitt described Oklahoma’s marijuana industry as one of the greatest threats to public safety. He said when Oklahomans approved medical marijuana in 2018, voters were “sold a bill of goods.”
“Out-of-state liberal activists preyed on the compassionate nature of Oklahomans,” he said.
Stitt said the vote opened “Pandora’s box,” pointing to the rapid growth of marijuana businesses across the state. According to Stitt, Oklahoma now has more marijuana dispensaries than pharmacies.
The governor claimed the Oklahoma medical marijuana industry enables cartel activity, human trafficking and foreign influence in the state.
Stitt praised Adria Berry of the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority and Donnie Anderson of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics for what he said was their work to “hold back the tide of illegal activity.”
He said the industry is plagued by foreign criminal interests and bad actors, making it nearly impossible to rein in.
He called for the marijuana issue to be sent back to Oklahoma voters.
“We can’t put a Band-Aid on a broken bone,” he said. “And knowing what we know now, it’s time to let Oklahomans bring safety and sanity back to their neighborhoods.”
The owner of Okie Wonderland, a dispensary in Catoosa, says taking medical marijuana away would cause more crime and hurt the economy.
“A lot of people are doing stuff the right way, following every rule that OMMA and OBN has, making sure that all of our employees are credentialed, running background checks, paying our Secretary of State Payments, paying our Oklahoma Tax payments,” Allen Soleyman said.
Soleyman says he was surprised when he heard Governor Kevin Stitt talk about medical marijuana during his speech.
“The people have already voted for this to be here. So to try to take it back now, it just, it doesn’t feel right. I can’t remember the last time that somewhere had something folded in and then it just got taken away a few years later,” said Soleyman.
Soleyman says illegal grows don’t affect dispensaries, and taking medical marijuana away would create more illegal activity.
“They’re not just going to stop smoking all of a sudden, you know, they’re going to start buying it from their neighborhood dealer, or whoever it may be, and then they’re really not going to get any tax money,” he said. “For everyone to be generalized that we’re doing something illegal, it really hurts. And I know that the dispensaries are kind of outlying right now. I feel like when the grows and stuff are doing illegal activity and stuff like that, it doesn’t affect the dispensaries as much.”
The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority said anyone with questions should contact the governor’s office.
The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics released the following statement:
“OBN is grateful for the continued support by Governor Stitt and our legislative leadership in our agency’s efforts to target and dismantle transnational criminal organizations embedded in our state’s marijuana program. Their support has enabled OBN to shut down over seven thousand illicit farms and seize over two million illegal marijuana plants in the last four years.”—OBN Director Donnie Anderson
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