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LAWS VS. REGULATIONS. ARE THEY THE SAME?

Jade Pebworth

Nope. Do you really have to follow both? YES! Medical Marijuana laws were drafted and voted on in the form of State Question 788. Once passed by a vote, they became law and can be found in Oklahoma Statute Title 63 Section 420.

These laws, or statutes, in Title 63, are the foundation for regulations and give the State Department of Health its power to create regulations. The statutes state, in part, that the State Department of Health (OSDH) shall receive and review applications, make information available, keep information about applicants safe, and more.

The OSDH then created the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA). The OSDH is acting well within its right in delegating this oversight to the newly created OMMA. As stated in Subchapter one of the OMMA regulations, the OMMA’s purpose is to ensure the health and safety of all Oklahomans and provide reasonable and orderly regulation of medical marijuana. The OMMA is defined as the regulatory authority and a division of the OSDH. Why is this important? The OSDH got their power from the statutes in Title 63 and then they created the OMMA to deal with all things regarding medical marijuana.

The OMMA is a regulatory body and operates pursuant to administrative laws because they are a state agency created by statute. They do not make laws. They simply make regulations and rules that, in theory, help (or force) people dealing in medical marijuana to follow the underlying laws. If you follow the regulations, you are following the law. If you violate a regulation, you are violating a law, in theory. The sticky part about laws and regulations is that agency regulations cannot be more restrictive than state laws.

The OMMA, and other agencies, must follow the rules laid out in the Administrators Procedure Act found in Title 75 in applying their rules and regulations as well as changing them. Agency regulations can be changed more quickly than enact new state laws. There are checks on these agencies, such as the public comment period. The OMMA just wrapped up a comment hearing regarding proposed amendments and a recording of the hearing can be found on their website at

https://oklahoma.gov/omma/administration/rulesregulations.html.

At the end of the day, you must follow the law and in following the law you must also follow the OMMA’s rules and regulations related to medical marijuana.

- Jade