The Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association announced in a September 20 press release they have joined a coalition of organizations requesting Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority Adria Barry to adopt a temporary moratorium on issuing new marijuana grower permits. Joining OCA on the letter were the Oklahoma Agricultural Aviation Association, Oklahoma Dairy Producers Association, Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association, and the Oklahoma Soybean Association.

The letter suggests that this moratorium be put in place immediately and expire no later than June 1, 2022. In July, OCA members created comprehensive and aggressive policy related to the invasive growth of marijuana grow houses in rural Oklahoma.

A copy of the letter included in the release states, “According to the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority’s (OMMA) website, as of September 3rd, there were 8,630 grower permits issued in the state of Oklahoma. According to the 2017 Agriculture Census, this exceeds the number of Oklahoma wheat farms (6510), pork farms (1906), soybean farms (1750), cotton farms (808) and dairy farms (471)!”

OCA Executive Vice President Michael Kelsey shared, “Newly appointed OMMA Director Adria Berry is doing a fantastic job. A temporary pause will give her much needed time to bring the Department up to speed on grower permit issues such as hiring more inspectors, catch up with inspections and certifications while waiting for the court to issue a decision on seed-to-sale.”

“The numbers are simply overwhelming,” Kelsey said. “In the upcoming legislative session, OCA policy calls for reasonable and practical proposals to modify state law regarding growing marijuana. In the meantime, a temporary pause in grower permits, would be appropriate and rational.”

The letter states that the pause will allow OMMA to catch up with inspection of current permits along with consideration of how new and existing grower permits should be regulated. It also claims that the “seed to sale” tracking rules are currently not being enforced due to guidance by the state’s courts. It suggests that important regulatory authority issues must be addressed such as waste disposal, water availability, bonding, utility strains, ad valorem assessment and many others.

“This new industry is fundamentally changing rural Oklahoma,” the letter concludes. “An immediate moratorium on issuing permits will give time to consider appropriate and proper actions to preserve rural Oklahoma.”

According to the oklahoma.gov/omma website, there are currently 142 registered marijuana facilities in operation in Seminole County. This includes 112 growers, 13 processors, and 18 dispensaries.

According to the stories. opengov.com website the State of Oklahoma collected $123,266,606.96 from medical marijuana in 2020. This included $16,678,600.00 in patient license fees, $24,713,118.15 in commercial license fees, and $81,874,888.81 in sales tax.