A current report from Tulsa World states that in accordance with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (OBNDD), there are a pair thousand unlicensed medical hashish companies within the state. “We’ve got close to 2,000 under investigation,” stated Mark Woodward, with the Public Information Office at OBNDD. “We’re working with our partners to identify the criminal networks involved.”
Woodward additionally commented that many of those licenses have been linked to criminality. Recently in December 2022, 4 folks have been killed “execution style” at a hashish cultivation facility in Kingfisher County, which is situated northwest of Oklahoma City. According to the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, the house owners of the ability had a medical cultivation license, however OBNDD brokers imagine that the license was obtained illegally.
Woodward stated that these working at unlawful cultivation websites are sometimes overseas nationals. “The only thing it did was it shined a light on something we’ve been saying for the last four years,” Woodward said. “It’s the same violent criminal organizations.”
He added that 200 operations have been closed by native regulation enforcement thus far, however the OBNDD is attempting to trace the supply of legal exercise. But till that investigation yields outcomes, Woodward believes that Oklahoma’s medical hashish trade will proceed to endure. “Something not talked about much is that the legitimate industry is bleeding to death,” Woodward added.
Last 12 months in March, folks impersonating cops carried out faux search warrants at quite a few hashish cultivation websites, stealing 100 kilos of hashish, in addition to machines, money, and cell telephones. At the time, Woodward commented on the assaults on hashish companies attributable to the truth that hashish continues to be federally unlawful, and are pressured to primarily deal in money.
“These farms where there are oftentimes Chinese workers who don’t speak English—they won’t recognize traditional law enforcement,” Woodward told High Times. “They’re not familiar with what Oklahoma law enforcement or what uniforms might look like or what a fraudulent warrant looks like compared to legitimate ones. And so these criminals count on that. That’s why they targeted these specific farms. They saw it as an easy opportunity to take advantage of these workers and hit the farm and take product.”
Tulsa World shared that some folks, akin to third District Congressman Frank Lucas, together with 20 different congress members, sent a letter in July 2022 to U.S. Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack concerning the acquisition of Oklahoma land by overseas events. According to the letter, overseas land possession elevated “from 13,720 to 352,140 acres between 2010 and 2020.”
“We are alarmed by the pace at which Chinese companies have been purchasing U.S. agricultural land in recent years. Given this trend, we want to ensure the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has the reporting tools necessary to provide Americans with the fullest possible picture of all foreign purchases of United States land,” the letter acknowledged.
In December 2021, there have been 9,400 licensed medical hashish cultivators. One 12 months later in December 2022 revealed a discount to 7,086 licenses. Currently, there’s a moratorium on new licenses, which went into effect in August 2022 and can finish someday round August 2024.
Medical hashish was legalized via a voter initiative in 2018, however the state’s low cost of entry (solely $2,500 yearly) for a hashish license opened the doorways to out-of-state events. A more moderen invoice, House Bill 2179, was later handed by the governor in May 2022 to extend the annual charges primarily based on the dimensions of a facility or a dispensary’s gross sales. According to the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, this doesn’t go into impact till June 1, 2023.
Although there have been quite a few makes an attempt to reign in unlawful hashish exercise in Oklahoma, advocates are taking a look at March to legalize leisure hashish. Gov. Kevin Stitt set March 7 as the date for a special election the place the voter initiative will seem. If handed, State Question 820 would legalize adult-use hashish and permit hashish cultivation and gross sales.
“After all the delays caused by the new signature count process, we are excited to finally be on the ballot on March 7, 2023, so that Oklahomans can experience the benefits of the State Question without further delay,” said Oklahomans for Sensible Marijuana Law Campaign Director Michelle Tilley. “We are grateful the voices of over 164,000 Oklahomans who signed the petition and want to vote on legalizing recreational marijuana for adults in Oklahoma have been heard.”
Originally it was set to seem within the November 2022 ballot, however the submitted signatures weren’t licensed in time.
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