2021
A Look Back At Cannabis by Alesha Wilson, M. Ed.
Certified Cannabis Therapy Consultant
W
hen looking back at cannabis in Oklahoma in 2021, it’s hard to ignore the reports that mention over a “billion-dollars” in sales since 2018. It’s also impressive to see the number of dispensaries climb over 2500 and growers reach over 9400 (per the December 2021 reporting at OMMA). One might say, “… you’re doing fine Oklahoma.” Yet, FINE isn’t going to create the change needed for cannabis to reach its full potential. The state has an opportunity to help cannabis reach that potential but only if the people involved adjust their focus in 2022. 2021 promised new beginnings, it's time was to be spent getting over 2020 - the year from hell. Oklahoma’s 2021 did generate some good – but also showed there is room for growth. I asked one former patient to share about her decision not to renew and she stated, “I got my license to try and get off some of my meds. But every time we went to a dispensary, they wanted to make a sale or give me an uneducated opinion.
This made me feel uncomfortable. I needed an educated opinion and for someone to take the time to do so. Most of the time, you are dealing with very young adults who are smoking just to get high and party. They don’t have the first idea of what it’s like to have depression and anxiety. This is why I chose not to renew my card and to continue my meds.” I submitted an open records request with OMMA asking for the number of patients who have not renewed their license since 2018, the record was not available before the print deadline. Curious to see how many patients may have felt the same way, it is inevitable that not all in the industry will stay but leadership could help. Leadership is a funny thing in Oklahoma – Sports figures do well it seems and the Governor always makes the news, so what about leadership in the cannabis industry in the state? In August 2021, the OMMA saw its fourth Director hired and it is unclear to the public at this time in what way the controlling agency is going to go.
One suggestion is to lead Oklahoma out of the “wild west” and kill the stigma that has long plagued the plant and the people who consume it. It seems unlikely that Oklahoma officials would include the slang term “marijuana” on patient licenses given the decades of “politically correct” campaign examples, but they did. The U.S. did not start using the term “marijuana” until it was used to categorize what they thought to be criminal usage in the early 1900’s. In 1915, the U.S. Government published Farmers Bulletin No. 663, titled Drug Plants Under Cultivation that shows the government providing instruction on how to grow the plant. Today, it seems hard to imagine the U.S. Government providing an instruction brochure on how to grow cannabis and categorizing it with other drug plants such as anise, dill, and thyme. It makes one wonder where the world of cannabis would be if the,
thechronicmagazine.com
FEBRUARY 2022
22
