News

Check here for up-to-date news on Oklahoma’s cannabis industry. Have a news story you’d like covered by The Patreearchy? Check out our contact page!

• Oct. 10, 2020

  Gov. Stitt Signs New Emergency Rules for October 2020

  Governor Stitt signed a new set of emergency rules pertaining to Oklahoma’s medical marijuana market. These rules went into effect on October 15, 2020.

  If you want to check out the full text of the new rules, click here . Want a summary? Click here . Below are some short notes on what rules will likely be the most impactful:

  • Sample field logs and documents related to transportation and sampling must be maintained. This documentation must be kept onside and available for 7 years.

  • Commercial licensees must create and maintain a waste disposal log that lists all activities over the previous 5-year period.

  • The logos for the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) and the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) may not appear on packaging or labeling.

  • Growers and processors must store marijuana and products in fully sealed/closed containers when not in use.

  • Several new rules regarding how failed batches may be utilized, transferred, processed and sold following testing.
    

• Oct. 10, 2020

  Oklahoma Extorts Patients, Subsidizes Mediocrity

  The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) announced that between July 2019 and June 2020, they funded the equivalent of 794 teachers’ salaries in the state of Oklahoma.

  Of course, this doesn’t mean Oklahoma hired 794 additional teachers, and we’ll never actually know what this money funded.

  As you may be aware, Oklahoma repeatedly scores poorly on national education rankings . Even in the face of increased funding over the years, our ranking has yet to be positively impacted. This raises the question: Why dig our heels?

  Back in February, President Trump made his opinions on education funding clear : the money should follow the students, not the system. Love him or hate him, he’s right that throwing money at ineffectual institutions is not a viable option.

  While headlines like “OMMA funds salaries for nearly 800 teachers” sound nice, they fail to represent reality. The money is not helping our state’s children, and it should stay where it belongs: in our pockets.
  

• Oct. 10, 2020

  Pesticides Abound, OMMA Issues Recall for Green Motavation, LLC. Products

  According to the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Association (OMMA), several products from Green Motavation 111, LLC. may be unsafe for consumers. Because one name is simply not enough, affected products include those labeled as BARZ, Caramel, Dank Confections, Fresh Bake, Mr. Mack’s, PotPops, and Pusher.

  If you have any of these products and they are labeled as Batch #M200807-1 or #M200807-11, the product has unsafe levels of pesticides.

  If you recall, OMMA has already recalled several Moox Mix products. Green Motavation, LLC. is only the second company to suffer the wrath of the largely ineffectual OMMA (note: this can, and perhaps should, be construed as a compliment).

  A notification regarding the recall was sent to all OMMA license holders on Thursday, October 15, 2020, though the recall was officially issued more than a week earlier on October 8, 2020.
  

• Sep. 9, 2020

  Tracking Monopoly Implemented by OMMA, Signs Contract with Metrc

  After two years of limited oversight, the Oklahoma Medical Marjiuana Authority (OMMA) will implement a digital tracking system for growers, processors, and distributors. OMMA has signed a contract with Metrc, a tracking system that has been implemented in mayn other states, including Colorado, California, and Oregon, among others.
  
  

  Metrc utilizes radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags to track marijuana plants and products from seed-to-sale. Growers will now attach a RFID tag to each plant, which will be scanned at each phase of production, including when it was planted, harvested, processed, transferred, and eventually labeled for sale.
  
  

  This means every plant grown in the state will be assigned an RFID tag provided by Metrc. If the system is implemented as it is in other states, growers in Oklahoma will now be forced to purchase the tags themselves. Missouri, who also signed a contract with Metrc, recently ruled that their state’s growers and processors will not be accountable for the cost of the tags. It is unlikely Oklahoma will be so lucky.
  
  

  The contact for Oklahoma was only recently signed, so details will continue to surface. Implementation dates have not yet been set.

• Sep. 9, 2020

  The Blind Leading the Blind, Oklahoma to Begin Quality Assurance Testing with $10 Million Contract

  For two years, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) has issued lab testing licenses and guidelines. Until now, they did not have access to their own lab. That all changes with the $10 million contract issued to Demeter Laboratory.
  
  

  Demeter Laboratory is an established marijuana testing facility in the state, and has tested products from all over the state. According to the contract they have been awarded by OMMA, they are to cease conducting business with the state’s growers and processors.
  
  

  Per Kelly Williams, OMMA interim director, “It’s going to provide a level of oversight for testing protocols and quality that we have not been able to provide without a [quality assurance] lab. This will help ensure patient safety and testing quality to a degree that we have not been able to do without the QA lab.”
  
  

  In addition to representing OMMA, Demeter Laboratory will also provide secondary testing on cannabis and cannabis-infused products that are sent to private laboratories across the state.

• Sep. 9, 2020

  Liars be Damned, Local Marijuana Testing Facility has License Revoked

  Kyle Felling of FAST Laboratories in Oklahoma City is in danger of losing his laboratory license following an investigation by the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA). FAST Laboratories performs various tests for cannabis and cannabis-infused products produced in the state. This includes potency evaluations, but also tests for heavy metals, molds, or bacteria like E. coli or Salmonella.
  
  

  Growers and processors stand to gain or lose significantly based on the lab results. An anonymous tip to OMMA led to a formal investigation of the allegations.
  
  

  News 4 interviewed Keri Alvis, a former employee, who said “...something [would] fail for a heavy metal [and] Kyle Felling would go back behind [staff] and change that fail to a pass.”
  
  

  OMMA reportedly discovered at least 15 examples where Felling reported lab results prior to any testing had been conducted, or adjusted raw testing data in a favorable direction.
  
  

  OMMA has formally requested for the revocation of Felling’s laboratory testing license.