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Establishing marijuana treatment programs for medical and recreational purposes at the state level is usually an extremely slow process that can take years. This is not the case in Oklahoma, which reacted to the speed of light after voters approved cannabis for medical purposes in June
. Six months later, the cannabis industry is booming.
Farmers and entrepreneurs embark on commercial crop operations, and the state licenses new patients, producers and dispensary operators at a breakneck pace. The outlets opened only four months after the legalization.
In contrast, voters in North Dakota, Ohio and neighboring Arkansas approved the medical pot in 2016, but have not yet seen sales begin, despite legal disputes and interference legislative. really about the Wild West, "said lawyer Sarah Lee Gossett Parrish, whose firm in Norman represents several companies related to cannabis. "Here in Oklahoma we are a fairly independent constituency, we are first and foremost a red state, but we do not like government controls."
Indeed, unlike virtually every other state, Oklahoma officials have not created any list of eligible medical conditions for obtaining marijuana for medical purposes. This caused a plethora of personal licensing requests for pots.
Since August, more than 22,000 applications have been approved and thousands more are in preparation. There are now 785 approved clinics. Some small towns in Oklahoma have half a dozen. Together, Norman and Stillwater, the two largest university cities in the state, have 45.
Sage Farms has more than 1,200 licensed commercial producers. Owner Ben Neal has been using high tech cultivation techniques for years to produce tomatoes, lettuce, peppers and other vegetables in his six greenhouses located in rural Tulsa County. He now converts one-third of his business into marijuana growers, has hired three new employees and has just collected 200 pounds of various strains that will be auctioned next month.
Neal stated that $ 2,800 per pound had been offered to him, for a total of $ 560,000. He is shocked by the speed with which Oklahoma has embraced the industry.
"Nine months ago, I was saying that Oklahoma would be the last state to do it, and all of a sudden, it happened," said Neal. In the Shawnee bedroom community, east Oklahoma City, business is steady at the Oklahoma Roots dispensary. Chance Gilbert cultivates, processes and sells marijuana in what used to be a metal fabrication shop.
"It's a little radical to the speed of its manufacture," said Gilbert, who hopes to produce about 50 pounds of marijuana a month at full capacity. . "We assumed it would be a model of Arkansas, that it would take years before its implementation and deployment."
The primary factor behind the rapid deployment of Oklahoma was a broadly-based, citizen-led voting issue, which included quick and required turnaround times. regulators to license each qualified applicant.
First, instead of the general election in November, Governor Mary Fallin put the question to the vote on the June primary poll, where she was overwhelmingly adopted despite the opposition of the forces of order , doctors and clergy. . This left more time for the program to be operational before the return of the legislature in February.
Next, when the Oklahoma State Health Board attempted to impose severe restrictions, such as prohibiting the pot that could be smoked and imposing a pharmacist each time. dispensary, the public was outraged. All segments of the marijuana movement mobilized and even the attorney general of the Republican state gave him legal advice that the council had gone too far.
"I think every Oklahoman who has a soul is dismayed to have tried to change the political decision that the people of Oklahoma had just made," said Paul Chip, who helped write and to lobby for the 788 issue of the state. After this board meeting and after the Attorney General 's letter, the third part of the policy would be to screw up SQ 788. "
The Oklahoma Conservative Legislature is aware of this, although GOP leaders are still considering applying some general standards for laboratory testing, packaging and measures to prevent the pot from ending up on the black market, they do not seem in a hurry to make wholesale changes.
"I do not see any appetite to enter and try to undo the will of the people and of get rid of marijuana for medical purposes, "said state senator Greg McCortney, R-Ada, who has previously served in a working group on medical pots.
The new authority of The State in charge of medical marijuana has raised more than $ 7.5 million in registration fees for patients, producers and dispensaries.The first income of the new sales tax of 7% on sales of pots started to flow in the c State offers last month
Even members of law enforcement, who were among the most outspoken opponents, seem to accept the change in public attitudes to the state. regard to marijuana.
"There are many, many people who like to go to their porch at night in the privacy of their own home and like to smoke marijuana," said Wiggon County Sheriff, Chris Elliott, who worked for 27 years. as a Tulsa police officer before being elected Sheriff. "These are not drugs that we could consider to be addicts, they are people who work, they pay taxes and go to the church, and they have had to sneak up because they are not in the business. they lived in fear of me, the forces of order. "
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Follow Sean Murphy at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy. Find full marijuana AP coverage here: https://apnews.com/LegalMarijuana
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