Editorial: Strengthen laws around cannabis product to ensure Oklahoma public safety | Editorial

The state has issued more than 8,000 licenses, which is well beyond the needs of the Oklahoma market.

Law enforcement agencies believe criminal operations are smuggling marijuana for illegal sale outside the state. Such criminal enterprises attract other crimes such as human trafficking and illicit arms sales.

We believe lawmakers are on the right track with proposals to strengthen tracking, control and enforcement. The critical consideration here is that the effort must be to regulate, not suppress, a legal industry.

New measures include the Oklahoma Tax Commission collecting and reviewing taxes on cannabis companies and larger enforcement teams for the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control.

Further information, such as the amount of foreign and foreign investors, is obtained from these companies.

A pending lawsuit has stalled a seed-to-sale tracking system, but a mechanism to know where, how much marijuana is being produced and where it’s ending up is critical to keeping the Oklahoma marijuana business legal hold. This is the easiest way to ensure that what is grown in Oklahoma stays here and is used as intended by SQ 788.

The medical marijuana industry will remain, but like all industries, it must grapple with government efforts to protect the public and ensure that everyone is playing within the rules.