New Medical Cannabis Laws Go into Effect Today
November 1st is a common effective date for many Oklahoma Legislative policies.
Wake up from the Halloween candy coma or the OBNDD renewal last minute submission stress, it’s a new month, and November means a few new laws take effect for medical marijuana, from bills passed in the regular session. Some bills had emergency clauses in them meaning the take effect immediately, and have been in effect all summer, but a couple of bills ‘technically’ start today- here are the details on their provisions.
The first is SB 212, which addresses foreign land ownership. This is a hotly covered topic across several states. Several of those states, in the US’ own quest of anti-communism, have banned people of some nationalities from various rights and privileges given to US Citizens — including land ownership, and as Sen. Bullard(R-Durant), the principal author, has been quoted in a media release, this bill seems to be no different.
“While there is more work to do, SB 212 is an important step to help us shut down the foreign buy-out of our state by communist China and cartels,” Bullard said.
This echoes the talking points of GOP Senators like Lankford and GOP House reps like Lucas at the federal level, meanwhile OK State Rep Avery Frix(R) and local mayors were proudly announcing 50 megawatt bitcoin mining operations in their areas of the state with OG&E as a partner set up near transmission lines and substations, the project headed by Quian Yuan and XYZ Capital.
Non-resident land ownership has been illegal in Oklahoma and in the State Constitution since 1910 for individuals, but SB 212 added extra language about business entities:
Provided, however, the requirements of this subsection shall not apply to a business entity that is engaged in regulated interstate commerce in accordance with federal law.
B. On or after the effective date of this act, any deed recorded with a county clerk shall include as an exhibit to the deed an affidavit executed by the person or entity coming into title attesting that the person, business entity, or trust is obtaining the land in compliance with the requirements of this section and that no funding source is being used in the sale or transfer in violation of this section or any other state or federal law. A county clerk shall not accept and record any deed without an affidavit as required by this section. The Attorney General shall promulgate a separate affidavit form for individuals and for business entities or trusts to comply with the requirements of this section, with the exception of those deeds which the Attorney General deems necessary when promulgating the affidavit form.
Senator Michael Brooks(D-Oklahoma City) recently addressed the unintended consequences SB 212 might have for bona fide Oklahoma residents when it comes to buying and selling their homes.
“We have noncitizens who are bonified residents and they are contributing members of our communities and state. There are 31,000 such immigrants in Oklahoma currently, and last year they paid $26 million in state income taxes — that’s on top of federal income taxes, as well as state and local sales taxes,” Brooks said. “I appreciate the efforts of the attorney general in resolving this issue.”
There is also a pdf document put out by the state to answer additional questions about HB 212.
The other bill taking effect today is HB 2095 and for businesses who renewed their OBNDD registration they may be familiar with it already. Some of the provisions of HB 2095:
The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority to permanently revoke licenses of businesses that fail to pay their taxes
Enter into and negotiate the terms of Memorandums of Understanding between the Authority and other state agencies concerning the enforcement of laws regulating medical marijuana in this state. (This includes the OBNDD, Attorney General, and OSBI)
The law makes it illegal for marijuana growers to knowingly hire undocumented immigrants
The law allows enforcement entities to make unannounced visits at grow operations
The law limits one grow license per piece of property.
Administrative holds and embargoes in addition to seizures of medical marijuana are included in enforcement actions, and “not properly logged in inventory records or untraceable product not required to be in the system, altered or improperly packaged” included in reasons for enforcement actions.
Subpoenas of all potential involved parties if a reasonable suspicion of diversion or illegal activity in a business is detected.
National fingerprint-based background checks for commercial applicants- see more about this here, and the attestation form here.
Extends the moratorium on processing and issuing new medical marijuana business licenses until 2026
The new laws that specifically fall under OMMA’s purview have been incorporated into Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority rules, and soon there should be a public commenting session on these rules. The previous public comment period was December 2022.