Oklahoma native Travis Kirkpatrick is the new director of the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority.

Kirkpatrick has served as interim director for the last 90 days. Health Commissioner Gary Cox said he made the decision based on Kirkpatrick’s leadership at the authority over the last few months.

“During his three months, Kirkpatrick has reopened the call center, which is now handling approximately 300 calls a day, hired a compliance manager to ensure the dispensaries across the state are in compliance with state laws, and worked to open the lines of communication with the business community and the patients,” Cox said.

The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority was created by a vote of the people, July 26, 2018.  The state question allowed for both licenses to sell and to purchase medical marijuana with a physician’s prescription. Additional regulatory authority was written into the “unity bill” passed by the legislature just months before Kirkpatrick’s arrival.

There are currently more than 246,000 patient, caregiver, grower, processor, dispensary, and transportation licenses for marijuana in Oklahoma, all handled by OMMA.