{"id":30614,"date":"2018-08-08T15:35:19","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T20:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=30614"},"modified":"2018-08-08T21:43:01","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T02:43:01","slug":"health-commissioner-pushes-for-special-session-and-stricter-marijuana-regulation-through-legislation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2018\/08\/08\/health-commissioner-pushes-for-special-session-and-stricter-marijuana-regulation-through-legislation\/","title":{"rendered":"Health commissioner pushes for special session and stricter marijuana regulation through legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_30615\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-30615\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/08\/20180712-mmj-pics004_HR-1920x1280.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/08\/20180712-mmj-pics004_HR-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/08\/20180712-mmj-pics004_HR-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/08\/20180712-mmj-pics004_HR-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/08\/20180712-mmj-pics004_HR-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/08\/20180712-mmj-pics004_HR-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/08\/20180712-mmj-pics004_HR-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/08\/20180712-mmj-pics004_HR-1620x1080.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">States have different rules regarding packaging for medical marijuana products.<\/p>\n<\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Interim Health Commissioner Tom Bates told a group of lawmakers Wednesday a special legislative session is needed to fix gaps in the state\u2019s new medical marijuana rules. <\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gov. Mary Fallin on Monday signed <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2018\/08\/01\/board-of-health-reverses-course-approves-looser-medical-marijuana-rules\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, stripped down medical marijuana rules to replace ones that included controversial, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2018\/07\/13\/two-groups-sue-state-over-last-minute-marijuana-regulations\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">last-minute restrictions<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that required pharmacists at dispensaries, imposed a cap on the amount of THC that products could contain and banned the sale of smokable forms \u2014 which Attorney General Mike Hunter deemed <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2018\/07\/27\/controversial-amendments-stripped-out-of-newly-proposed-medical-marijuana-draft-rules\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">legally questionable<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> under the board of health\u2019s authority. <\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Those amendments are now included in a list of proposed changes to state statutes that Bates presented to legislators, which, if enacted, would make Oklahoma\u2019s marijuana program one of the most restrictive in the country. Separate lists of recommendations from the OSDH and an interagency working group were included.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/omma.ok.gov\/Websites\/ddeer\/images\/documents\/Legislative%20Working%20Group%20Presentation%20Materials%208.8.18.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">proposal recommends\u00a0<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">legislators:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prohibit home-grown marijuana<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prohibit all smokable forms <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Limit THC content to 12 percent<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increase state tax rate to a minimum of 18 percent<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Require a pharmacist at all dispensaries <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Require the state Prescription Monitoring Program be used to track all recommendations<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Require qualifying conditions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Allow communities to opt-out or restrict zoning laws to limit medical marijuana businesses<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Allow for and increase the financial penalty to at least $5,000 if any rule is broken<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With less than three weeks until the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority starts accepting applications for medical marijuana licenses, Bates told a working group of Oklahoma legislators that product testing, recall requirements and packaging are his top concerns. <\/span><\/p><p><b>\u201c<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If we implement it as written, there are certain gaps in it, that we can\u2019t fix by rule, and what that translates to for public health concerns me,\u201d Bates told the bipartisan group, which organized to discuss legislative options after Fallin <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.apnews.com\/ae535ae4c77f4c1fa3021e113bc25157\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">changed her mind<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> about the need for a special legislative session after voters approved State Question 788 to legalize medical marijuana.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bates called on the group of lawmakers to push for a special legislative session on medical marijuana. <\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many marijuana advocates have also called for a special session.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s going to be up to consumers to go in and ask very detailed and specific questions about the product, the origins of the product, what testing has been done and things like that\u2026 that\u2019s a concern until you have testing standards out there that everybody agrees on and everybody knows the playing field,\u201d Bates said. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where is the money coming from?<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bates estimated it would cost $4.5 million to fund the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority for the first year. SQ 788 levied a special 7 percent tax on medical marijuana sales to pay for the regulatory authority under the state health department. Since sales have not begun yet, Bates said that the health department was drawing on a $30 million pot of money that has remained untouched since a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2017\/12\/19\/feds-now-investigating-oklahoma-state-department-of-health\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">six-month investigation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> into financial mismanagement at the agency was completed in May.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI said earlier, absent any guidance from the legislature, we would use that money to set up this program,\u201d Bates told lawmakers.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A grand jury started probing the agency in November after officials reported a sudden budget shortfall. The resulting financial crisis led to the layoffs of nearly 200 employees and an emergency infusion from lawmakers of $30 million to help the agency stay solvent \u2014 but the crisis was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2018\/05\/17\/grand-jury-financial-crisis-at-oklahoma-health-agency-never-existed\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">later revealed<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to be fabricated. The grand jury blamed the agency\u2019s antiquated internal financial system and found evidence of misconduct, but none considered illegal under state laws.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thirty million dollars remained in what the grand jury report called a \u201cslush fund\u201d with money made up primarily of federal appropriations and county millage dollars the agency set aside over a period of years, which Bates said is now being used to pay for the state medical marijuana authority.<\/span><\/p><p>Editor&#8217;s note: This story has been updated to clarify that one list of proposed changes to state statutes was recommended by the Oklahoma State Department of Health and another from an interagency working group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Interim Health Commissioner Tom Bates told a group of lawmakers Wednesday a special legislative session is needed to fix gaps in the state\u2019s new medical marijuana rules. Gov. Mary Fallin on Monday signed new, stripped down medical marijuana rules to replace ones that included controversial, last-minute restrictions that required pharmacists at dispensaries, imposed a cap [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":30330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[12,245,817,833,834],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30614"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30614"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30621,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30614\/revisions\/30621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}