Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) has signed payments to extend penalties for medical hashish diversion and make the state Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) a standalone company. The diversion invoice is supposed to shut a loophole that enables medical hashish cardholders to purchase state-legal merchandise however re-sell them to people and not using a card and solely face an administrative positive, Hemp Gazette reviews. The measure signed by Stitt closes that loophole.
Fines for individuals who deliberately or improperly divert medical hashish are doubled on first and second offenses underneath the brand new legislation, and a 3rd strike might result in the revocation of a affected person’s medical hashish card. Fines for gross sales or transfers of medical hashish merchandise to unauthorized individuals have additionally been elevated to $5,000 for the primary violation and $15,000 for subsequent violations.
State Sen. Lonnie Paxton (R) has beforehand said that the measure will not be meant to focus on “school associates who’re sharing marijuana product with no cash exchanged” however moderately “the black-market medical marijuana trade and drug sellers.”
The invoice making the Medical Marijuana Authority a standalone company takes impact November 1 and the measure takes the company from underneath the umbrella of the Well being Division. OMMA will nonetheless oversee the issuance of medical hashish affected person and enterprise licenses and perform all features associated to the regulation and compliance enforcement of the Oklahoma medical hashish trade, the company mentioned in a press release.
Home Majority Ground Chief Jon Echols (R), the invoice’s creator within the decrease chamber, mentioned making OMMA a standalone company “is critical to cope with the complexity of regulation and compliance of the increasing medical marijuana trade.”
“It will assist us minimize down on the black market that threatens the wellbeing of Oklahomans,” he mentioned in a press release, “and correctly regulate the respectable companies accepted by voters.”
After November 1, the governor will appoint OMMA’s govt director, and the state Senate will likely be answerable for the appointee’s affirmation.
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