Oklahoma lawmakers are now stepping into the fray after Governor Fallin approved the last minute changes the Oklahoma State Board of Health made to proposed medical marijuana regulations.
House Speaker Charles McCall and Senate President Pro Tempore-designate Greg Treat announced Thursday the creation of a bi-partisan working group to address the implementation of medical marijuana which would conform to the will of the voters. State Question 788 was passed by nearly 57 percent of the vote on June 26.
“We have an obligation to voters to get this right,” said McCall. “The House is committed to implementing the will of our citizens in a responsible way that respects the desire of voters while also protecting public safety and addressing concerns from the business and medical communities. We have many lawmakers who want to be involved in crafting a permanent regulatory framework more in line with what the voters want and expect. This group will begin evaluating the Department of Health’s recently adopted and approved rules and meeting with the governor’s office, medical marijuana industry representatives, Health Department officials, healthcare providers and other stakeholders to determine the best approach forward.”
“The Oklahoma Senate will not undo the will of voters, who spoke loudly by passing State Question 788,” said Treat. “While the Health Department and its commissioner did yeoman’s work in drafting emergency rules, the Board of Health’s adoption of last-minute amendments without public comments has undermined the public’s confidence in the system. Lawmakers have the ability to amend this law as we move forward to address any issues which may arise. A group of senators has been working diligently on this issue since April, and the new bipartisan, bicameral working group will be able to build upon that work. Lawmakers will work with all stakeholders to ensure we get this right. The legislative working group will help ensure a stable and effective regulatory framework is put in place so that State Question 788 can be implemented efficiently, effectively and safely in accordance with the will of Oklahoma voters.”
McCall and Treat will name the members of the working group next week. No meeting dates have been set yet.
Meanwhile, House Democrats are calling for a special session to put regulations into place. House Minority Leader Steve Kouplen hopes the Governor will allow lawmakers to address the issue.
“Today, the House Democratic Caucus stands together to urge Governor Fallin to reverse course and call the legislature into a special session so that we can setup a structure for legal medical marijuana.
We are glad to see the Speaker and the incoming majority leader of the Senate have committed to upholding the will of the people. We support the idea of a bipartisan working group only if a date for special session is chosen. Otherwise, we feel that the working group would be nothing more than a political stunt to ease the justified outrage of Oklahoma voters. If the Governor refuses to lead on this issue, we are calling on our Republican colleagues in the House and Senate to stand with us and use the two-thirds provision in the state constitution to bring the legislature back into session.
Although the majority of our caucus supported state question 788, we do have some members that did not. However, even those members stand with us today to say that the will of the people must be protected and that we cannot have a government that disregards election results. All members of the House Democratic Caucus feel that allowing the Oklahoma Department of Health rules to stand would be an act of complicity by this body to undermine the will of the people, and we feel that is unacceptable,” said Kouplen in his statement calling for the special session.
Before voters approved State Question 788, Fallin had raised the specter of a special session to put medical marijuana regulations in place. After the election, she decided the State Health Department and Board of Health could put the initial rules in place with lawmakers making adjustments during the 2019 regular session.
During the previous regular session, lawmakers proposed regulations which didn’t make it through the legislative process before the Legislature adjourned in May.
Supporters of State Question 788 became outraged when the Board of Health made the two last minute changes to ban smokable forms of cannabis from being sold in dispensaries and required a pharmacist to be on duty at dispensaries at the demand of the Oklahoma State Medical Association.
Local media reports indicate increased interest in two initiative petitions seeking to ask voters to place both medical and recreational marijuana into the state constitution. Constitutional amendments make it much more difficult for lawmakers and state agency boards to change the law.
