Trust Me! I'm A Lawyer - The 2023 Legislative Session

The 2023 Regular Legislative Session is well underway. There are numerous bills proposed by the house and the senate related to medical marijuana. The regular session will end in May and between now and then, there may be additional bills proposed and amendments may be made to the proposed bills. There are several proposed at this time, but I am going to highlight a few bills here.

01

HB 2101: Allows an Oklahoma tax deduction equal to the amount of any deduction for business expenses incurred for licensed medical marijuana business activity within this state which was disallowed for the same tax year pursuant to specific IRS codes.

02

HB 1347: Directs the Medical Marijuana Authority to begin competitive bidding to solicit and implement a seed-to-sale inventory tracking system for marijuana businesses.

03

SB 177: Direct the Medical Marijuana Authority to offer no less than three and no more than five inventory tracking system options for licensees, options to be chosen via a competitive bidding process.

04

SB 439: Requires physicians recommending medical marijuana to a patient to examine the patient in person, or certify that the patient is homebound, when a patient is a minor, the physician must have had them in care for a minimum of one year.

05

SB 801: Allowing municipalities to modify their planning or zoning procedures to determine or forbid medical marijuana businesses from operating in certain areas.

06

HB 1014: Prohibits new medical marijuana dispensaries from being established within 900 feet of any place of worship owned, leased, rented, or borrowed for at least twelve months and used no less than biweekly for worship services.

07

SB 437: Requires OMMA to develop a registry of licensed patient-recommending physicians, and develop rules for registered physicians relating to continuing education requirements.

08

HB 1350: Creates temporary licenses for medical marijuana growers, dispensaries, processors and transporters to be acquired prior to full permanent licensure.

All of the above-mentioned bills are in committee, the House, or the Senate. During the pendency of the legislative process, the bills may be modified consistently with proposed amendments. The bills may also die at various points in the bill-making process. For more information regarding the above bills check out the OMMA Legislative Updates page here (SCAN QR CODE)

or the Oklahoma Legislature’s bill tracking website here (SCAN QR CODE)

State Question 820 Marijuana Legalization Initiative will be voted for on March 7, 2023. A “yes” vote supports legalizing recreation marijuana for adults 21 years old and older and will enact tax on marijuana sales. A “no” vote, obviously, opposes the above. Get out there and vote y’all!

For questions or more information email Jade@BICLegal.com