The Oklahoma Legislature has taken steps to more clearly outline illegal activities concerning the production, distribution and use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The Senate passed Senate Bill 1367 increases the penalties for those who purchase medical marijuana and then sell the product to non-cardholders.

Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, authored the legislation he said will fix a loophole that only designates the practice of diverting medical marijuana product as an administrative fine.

“As many Oklahomans know, when State Question 788 was passed to legalize medical marijuana, we were quickly thrown into a situation where we needed to create the framework and guidelines for this industry,” Paxton said. “Unfortunately, this led to the inadvertent mixing of medical marijuana legislation and criminal justice reform legislation, resulting in the ability for someone to buy marijuana product legally, but then re-sell it to a child or someone who doesn’t have their card, with only an administrative fine. Ultimately, this is drug dealing, but only with the equivalent offense of a traffic ticket. SB 1367 fixes this loophole and makes this practice a criminal offense.”

It increases the fine for a person who intentionally or improperly diverts medical marijuana from $200 to $400 on the first offense, and from $500 to $1,000 on the second offense. If someone is caught a third time, they could lose their medical marijuana license. SB 1367 also increases the fines for sales or transfers of medical marijuana to unauthorized persons to $5,000 for the first violation and $15,000 for subsequent violations.

“I want to be very clear that we are going after the black-market medical marijuana industry and drug dealers with this bill – not college friends who are sharing marijuana product with no money exchanged,” Paxton said. “These black-market dealers are targeting and selling marijuana to our kids and others who don’t have a medical card, and we are giving our law enforcement officials the ability to do their jobs and prosecute these offenders under criminal violation of the law.”

Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed House Bill 3530 which will create a grant program for county sheriffs to combat illegal marijuana activities in Oklahoma.

It was authored by Rep. David Hardin, R-Stilwell and by Sen. Darrell Weaver, R-Moore, and it passed by wide margins in both chambers.

“OMMA compliance inspectors are being met with resistance at medical marijuana facilities across our state,” Hardin said. “They are just trying to do their jobs and make sure everything is done by the book, but they aren’t law enforcement officers. They don’t carry a weapon and are often met by people carrying firearms telling them to leave a property. This grant program will allow for one full time deputy to be totally dedicated to assisting OMMA compliance inspectors.”

HB 3530 creates an annual grant program funded by $5 million from the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) budget. The program would provide county sheriffs close to $65,000 for one year and would require one deputy to be assigned to assist OMMA compliance inspectors.

Cleveland County Commissioner Rod Cleveland said, “County sheriffs are the chief law enforcement of the county and are central to keeping law and order. Increasing state funding to each sheriff’s department is a huge win for law enforcement in combating illegal grow operations and assisting legal grows. This is a huge victory for the state of Oklahoma.”

The bill comes after OMMA compliance inspectors were denied access to properties 181 times between April 2021 and Feb. 2022. This accounts for 9.6% of all inspections during that period.

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics has agreed to conduct drug training for deputies to ensure that they know what they should expect and need to do during compliance inspections.

Stitt also signed Senate Bill 1543 which will make the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) an independent state agency on November 1.

Oklahoma voters authorized the state’s medical marijuana program in 2018 with State Question 788 which created OMMA and the state laws that launched the industry. It placed the new medical marijuana regulatory body within the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH), which is where OMMA has remained.

OMMA is responsible for processing commercial and patient license applications, providing customer service to licensees and applicants, facilitating the rulemaking process based on state statutes, enforcing rules, investigating possible violations of medical marijuana laws and more.

Since the passage of SQ 788, active patient and commercial licenses in the state have climbed to nearly 400,000. Across the state, the sale of medical marijuana and medical marijuana products has generated over $350 million in excise and sales tax revenue.

The legislation was authored by Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, and House Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City.

Echols said, “This will help us cut down on the black market that threatens the well-being of Oklahomans and properly regulate the legitimate businesses approved by voters.” After Nov. 1, the Governor will appoint OMMA’s executive director, and the state Senate will be responsible for the appointee’s confirmation.