Oklahoma’s Weed Crackdown: Are New Laws Protecting Patients or Killing Small Businesses?

As Oklahoma tightens its grip on the medical marijuana industry, businesses are bracing for a wave of new regulations aimed at professionalizing operations and rooting out illegal activity. But while lawmakers praise these measures as necessary for public safety and transparency, small cannabis businesses argue they may not survive the mounting red tape.

Oklahoma's cannabis boom began in 2018 when voters approved State Question 788, legalizing medical marijuana and creating one of the most permissive frameworks in the country. The state saw an unprecedented “green rush,” with thousands of grow operations and dispensaries sprouting seemingly overnight. But the rapid expansion also attracted illegal operators, prompting lawmakers to act.

By 2022, the state imposed a moratorium on new licenses for growers, processors, and dispensaries—a freeze now extended through 2026. Since then, the number of active licenses has plummeted, with only about 3,000 growers and 1,800 dispensaries still operating as of December 2024, down from over 9,400 grow operations at the peak.

While state officials tout these changes as crucial for patient safety and industry integrity, small business owners say the costs of compliance could be devastating. “These rules are designed for big corporations, not small, family-run operations,” said Kat Turner, co-owner of The Groovy Cats dispensary in Tulsa.

Turner worries the pre-packaging rule could compromise product quality, leading to potential health risks like mildew. “We’re proud of the medicine we grow, but these rules make it harder to deliver that same quality to patients,” she said.

The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA), the regulatory agency overseeing the industry, faces its own challenges. A reduction in licenses has led to staffing cuts, slowing inspections and license renewals. Business owners report delays and confusion over ever-changing rules, which they say disproportionately affect smaller operators.

Jeremy Woods, founder of Wild West Compliance, helps businesses navigate the regulatory maze. “The state is trying to clean up the industry, but the constant changes are overwhelming,” he said. “Many operators don’t have the resources to keep up.”

Lawmakers cite concerns over illegal operations and foreign-owned businesses as driving forces behind the stricter laws. In 2023, Senate Bill 212 banned foreign entities from purchasing land for cannabis cultivation. Governor Stitt has frequently warned about foreign influence, pointing to a rise in land acquisitions by foreign nationals, although much of this land is used for non-cannabis ventures like renewable energy.

For many small operators, the dream of running a cannabis business in Oklahoma has turned into a bureaucratic nightmare. Dispensary owner Summer Whiteman lamented, “What we voted for in 2018 has been lost in a tangle of excessive rules and mismanagement.”

As the state tries to weed out bad actors, industry insiders worry that the honest businesses that once defined Oklahoma’s “green rush” will be collateral damage.

Do Oklahoma’s tougher marijuana laws protect patients or punish small businesses?