The Oklahoma cannabis industry is facing a new limitation on licenses in the state. A bill progressing through the state legislature would limit the number of commercial medical marijuana licenses issued in Oklahoma until 2023. Licensing in Oklahoma remains open until September 1, 2021 for people looking to get started with a cannabis business in the state. Oklahoma offers some of the most exciting opportunities in the cannabis industry nationwide due to its low costs of entry.
While a license for a cannabis business is $20,000 in California, that license is only $2,500 in Oklahoma. This makes it the cheapest market in the country to enter the cannabis business. At the present time, marijuana is legalized for medical, but not recreational, use in the state.
Rep. Josh West, proponent of HB 2722, which is now moving to the state Senate, is accusing organized crime interests of buying up licenses in the state. He says that the industry has only limited oversight from the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority and that such applicants do not intend to actually operate legitimate businesses.
However, Oklahoma cannabis industry entrepreneurs have pushed back against the attempts to limit the industry’s growth. There are currently over 10,000 active licenses for dispensaries, processors, and growers. If the proposed bill becomes law, it would aim to limit the total number of licenses to 8,000, including 5,000 growers, 2,000 dispensaries and 1,000 processors.
Each business license holder would need to show activity within 18 months and maintain their status by having a certain amount of inventory on hand. This would include 50 plants for growers or $5,000 in stock for dispensaries. Dispensary owners said that other types of businesses, such as bars, do not need to show thousands of dollars in stock in order to maintain their liquor or other licenses. They pointed out that these kinds of requirements aim to squeeze smaller entrepreneurs out of the market in favor of big venture capitalists looking to profit from legalized cannabis.
The bill passed the House with an amendment that would sunset its provisions in 2023. The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority will have a plant-tracking system in place by that time.
Limitations on the cannabis industry that favor big businesses over small entrepreneurs often harm the same people who have been adversely affected by prohibition, including Black communities and other communities of color, disproportionately targeted for police intervention and incarceration in the “war on drugs.”
Oklahoma is among 35 states and the District of Columbia to legalize medical marijuana, while 14 states and D.C. have legalized recreational cannabis. Legalization has meant a growing Oklahoma cannabis industry, and some people see these limitations as an attempt not to crack down on crime in the market but to restrict the scope of the growing legalization drive.
As the bill is on track to pass the Senate, entrepreneurs looking to enter the market in Oklahoma should be aware of the timelines and act appropriately. There is still time to apply for a license in Oklahoma before the bill’s provisions go into effect on September 1, and the low entrance costs in the state, especially in comparison to other markets, make it appealing for budding entrepreneurs in cannabis.
