Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed several bills recently to curtail illegal medical cannabis operations but vetoed a major regulation bill that would have delayed cultivator licensing fee increases, among other business requirements. Another bill to raise manufacturing registration fees became law on June 2 without the governor’s signature.
Oklahoma introduced a myriad of bills this legislative session to try to rein in a wild west medical marijuana market that was considered by many to be largely to blame for the defeat of an adult-use referendum in March. Because of low licensing fees, there are more than 11,400 licensed businesses in the state as of June 1. A moratorium on new businesses is already in place until August 2026. Law enforcement and legislators have blamed foreign investors and straw owners as the core of cannabis-related legal problems in the state.
The bill Stitt vetoed June 9 was SB 437, which the state legislature passed on the last day of its 2023 regular session May 26. The wide-ranging bill would have:
- Strengthened requirements for patients under 18, or older than 18 but still in public school, to obtain patient licenses
- Required in-person physical exams, with exceptions
- Created a licensing physician registry
- Created a temporary business licensing system of a minimum 180 days and up to 18 months with extensions
- Required temporary business license holders to submit a range of financial documents for the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority’s (OMMA) review
- Required business licensees to provide proof of real estate ownership or lease
- Allowed OMMA to revoke or forbid licenses
- Directed distribution of rules to impose THC limits in medical cannabis products
- Prohibited and created rules for certain types of events
- Required certain marijuana products to be sold in prepackaged form
But the one provision that state Rep. T.J. Marti believes led to Stitt’s veto was delaying steep fee increases for larger growers to November 2025, he told Tulsa World. A tiered fee system that was to go into effect for renewal applications on June 1 would range from $2,500 to up to $50,000 for farms up to 50 acres, and another $250 per acre after that, or indoor grows of 100,000 square feet, plus 25 cents per additional square foot. A tiered fee increase is also slated for processors. Marti said in the article that the fee increases hurt smaller growers trying to abide by state laws more than illicit growers.
Stitt, in his veto letter, said, “Combined within the Bill are a variety of policy changes to the program that, on their own, would have my full support. Unfortunately, the Bill would also roll back progress we have made as a state to address illegal marijuana grow operations and bad actors within the industry.”
Additionally, the legislature in special session passed a bill that increases the registration fee for Schedule I drug manufacturers to the State Bureau of Narcotics and Drug Control from $500 to $2,500. SB 15x became law without the governor’s signature on June 2.
New Oklahoma cannabis laws
Bills that did get Stitt’s signature this session were:
- SB 212: Prohibits foreign entities to own land through a business entity or a trust, except businesses engaging in interstate commerce, which cannabis cannot.
- SB 475: Modifies medical marijuana license registration, suspension and revocation guidelines to address “straw” owners; includes $5,000 daily fine.
- SB 813: Authorizes OMMA to operate a quality assurance lab and use secret shoppers.
- SB 913: Requires marijuana cultivation businesses to hold a $500,000 bond for hazardous materials clean-up if the property is abandoned.
- HB 2095: Gives the state attorney general greater enforcement authority over medical cannabis laws and to subpoena documents identifying ownership interests in businesses.
