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Unity Bill hits a high note with legislators and cannabis advocates

Gov. Stitt signed the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana and Patient Protection Act—also called the “Unity Bill”—on March 14. This legislation is the result of months of work by the bipartisan medical marijuana working group, and it passed easily through both the House and the Senate. According to Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, the goal of the working group and the legislation is to “ensure that State Question 788 would be implemented in the most efficient and responsible way possible” and ensure the law will be “implemented as intended.”

The Unity Bill clarifies SQ 788. Its cornerstone is the creation of the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) to regulate the medical marijuana program, including the authority to investigate alleged violations of the law and administer penalties. It also establishes the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Revolving Fund for fines and fees collected by the OMMA.

Other changes include: establishing requirements for testing medical marijuana inventories for contaminants and THC/CBD content; requiring the use of child-resistant containers at the point of sale; labeling requirements—including a universal symbol for THC, potency, a statement that the product has been tested for contaminants, and a ban on the packaging that is made to appeal to children; a ban on counties making laws that restrict access to medical marijuana; and a ban on licensed medical marijuana users being denied access to safety net programs such as SNAP and Medicaid because of marijuana use.

The bill also includes the right of medical marijuana patients to own firearms; restrictions on smokable marijuana in public that mirror restrictions on public tobacco use; reduced license fees for veterans who are 100 percent disabled; “seed-to-sale” inventory tracking requirements for dispensaries; creation of a caregiver license, which would authorize caregivers to buy and deliver products to a medical marijuana license holder; rules and regulations for establishing medical marijuana businesses—including commercial growers, processors, transporters, laboratories for testing, and dispensaries; and regulations on medical marijuana research.

Two parts of the Unity Bill are somewhat controversial among medical marijuana advocates. The law bans employers from penalizing applicants for a job based on a positive test for marijuana with one exception: those with “safety-sensitive” jobs (including firefighting), jobs that require handling a firearm, hazardous materials, or power tools, and child care workers. Advocates argue that this is unnecessary because there are already laws that cover intoxication in safety-sensitive jobs. Also, there is no standard test to determine if someone is under the influence of marijuana and no standard for how much THC in one’s system constitutes being impaired.

The creation of a medical marijuana patient registry set forth in the new law also concerns some advocates. The law allows all physicians access to the registry, and advocates are concerned that some doctors who provide pain management or cancer treatment will refuse to treat patients who are using medical marijuana. Some doctors are hesitant to treat medical marijuana patients due to differences in federal and state marijuana laws that could lead to doctors losing their ability to prescribe controlled substances.

While there is some disagreement about these finer points of the law, advocates for medical marijuana are generally happy with the bill. Shelley Free, executive director of Oklahomans for Health—a group that advocated for SQ 788—stated: “Although it’s not perfect, I respect that we got so much help and cooperation from legislators. We have a foundation to build from now.”

Lauren Turner is a mental health policy analyst with Oklahoma Policy Institute.