The ongoing moratorium for new medical marijuana business licenses in Oklahoma could fetch an extension — and an eventual cap on grower licenses pending an eventual life of the moratorium in the future.
Two pieces of legislation, HB 3143 and HB 3144, propose to move the needle again on a moratorium first passed in 2022. Without further legislative action, the current moratorium is set to expire Aug. 1.
“We’re just trying to get everybody in compliance, because it just got out of hand rather quickly,” said Rep. Rusty Cornwell, R-Vinita, who authored the bills.
Cornwell noted the bills are meant to provide stability to the legal industry — and not undermine the will of voters who created the state’s medical marijuana industry.
“At some point, the moratorium — hopefully — is going to lift, and we’ll get back to the free market,” he added. “But, the problem is we don’t want to get back to the 10,000 licenses like we did when the whole thing took off.”
Specifically, HB 3143 is the piece of legislation that would extend the moratorium into 2028.
HB 3144 would cap grow licenses at 2,550 — only after the overall moratorium is eventually lifted — and would be a slight jump in available grow licenses from the current count of 2,164.
“Some of them say we only need 60 or we only need 120 grow facilities to be able to service our medical marijuana patients,” Cornwell explained, but added that “I didn’t want to try find what the real number was. I wanted enough growth in there for the free market.”
On the business side, some advocates are responding positively to the bills.
“It really gives all our regulatory bodies a chance to catch up,” said Brandy Keenan, owner of OK Canna Consulting. “And it gives the businesses the opportunity to actually make some money before new businesses come in.”
The two bills were only a snapshot of several that were discussed during an Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority Executive Advisory Council meeting on Friday.
Jed Green, who leads Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action, spoke during public comment.
Green told News 9 he supports the pieces of legislation from Cornwell.
“House bills 3143 and 3144 are both reasonable policy proposals. As the agencies continue to catch up, lawmakers are on the right track,” he said. “Both a two-year extension of the moratorium on grower licenses and setting a future license cap work, for now. While this policy will need to be considered again in 2028, it is important to recognize lawmakers for this proactive approach. I appreciate Representative Cornwell and his co-authors for managing and preserving our medical marijuana program with these responsible policies.”
Both bills were handed over for a reading in the Senate on Thursday, having passed out of the House with a small amount of bipartisan support.
