Board of health votes to require a pharmacist in medical marijuana dispensaries and limits smokable products

Gov. Mary Fallin has 45 days to either sign or disapprove the rules.

• Jackie Fortiér
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  Jackie is StateImpact Oklahoma's health care reporter. In a partnership with Kaiser Health News and National Public Radio, Jackie covers health in Oklahoma and the health care industry for local and national audiences. She has many journalism awards to her name during her years of multi-media reporting in Colorado and was part of a team recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists with a Sigma Delta Chi award for excellence in breaking news reporting in 2013. She is a former young professional fellow of the Journalism and Women's Symposium, and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, Reporters without Borders, and a lifetime member of Kappa Tau Alpha, awarded for her thesis on disability and technology in news reporting. She holds a bachelor's degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing from Colorado State University and a Master of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Colorado, Boulder. When she's not reporting, she enjoys spending time with her husband and three cats.

David Anderson

A sign advertises recreational and medical marijuana outside a dispensary in Colorado.

The Oklahoma State Board of Health on Tuesday approved emergency rules to regulate medical marijuana, which Oklahoma voters approved in June.

The 76 pages regulate the sale, cultivation and transportation of the drug — but the board made two big, last-minute changes.

First, the board added a requirement that only pharmacists can be dispensary managers — people who control and distribute all medical marijuana at a dispensary — despite the agency’s general counsel Julie Ezell telling board members that, in her legal opinion, such a move requires legislative action.

Another exemption, barring the sales of smokable marijuana at a dispensary passed by one vote. Vapable marijuana can be sold at dispensaries under the board-approved rules, while smokable marijuana will only be available for patients who choose to grow their own.

The exclusions mirror recommendations outlined at a press conference yesterday by health leaders and medical associations, including the Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy. The state board of health did follow its attorney’s recommendation that it lacked the authority to cap the number of dispensary licenses, something the medical associations also sought.

Here are those rule amendments. Highlighted portion: #SQ788 #MedicalMarijuana pic.twitter.com/ehejftcGPH

— Tres Savage (@ThriceSavage) July 10, 2018

Minnesota and Connecticut both require pharmacists to be present when medical marijuana is dispensed. Other states have restricted dispensed medical marijuana to only non-smokable forms.

During discussion on the amendments before the board vote, health department interim Commissioner Tom Bates said he expects “many of the regulations” to be challenged in court.

Gov. Mary Fallin on June 29 reversed course and declined to call a special legislative session to consider rules and oversight for medical marijuana after voters approved State Question 788, leaving regulation in the hands of officials at the state health department.

Gov. Fallin has 45 days to either sign or disapprove the rules.